


Did the Earth Move for You Too?

by storywriter55



Series: Milestones [13]
Category: White Collar (TV 2009)
Genre: Childbirth, Family Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Trapped In Elevator, tooth fairy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:56:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 31,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29636367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storywriter55/pseuds/storywriter55
Summary: Neal and Diana find themselves trapped in an elevator at a most inopportune time. Part of the Milestones series (6.3 years)
Relationships: Diana Berrigan & Neal Caffrey, Neal Caffrey/Sara Ellis
Series: Milestones [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/80614
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

Neal watched as his wife stood over the kitchen sink, hypnotized by the way her slender hips vibrated as she vigorously scrubbed the offensive pot. He’d been hungry for her for days but their schedules had made it impossible for them to connect and he’d begun that slow but unrelenting climb up the scale - from hungry to starving to ravenous. He felt himself responding at the sight of her despite his meagre efforts at having to keep himself in check – after all, they weren’t alone.

He watched in amusement as Hope and Liam moved from the kitchen to the family room, out to the living room and back again, Hope holding on to her baby brother’s tiny hands as he happily toddled around - as any baby would once he discovered he could be mobile while vertical. Neal heard them both giggle, Hope keeping her brother upright and holding his hands as she loomed over him with a toothless grin. 

His gaze returned to Sara, whose hair was falling in her face and he watched as she attempted to blow it away, hands still immersed in the murky dishwater. Man, she looked hot – both literally and figuratively. He waited for the kids to start their circuit back out towards the living room and he made his move, standing behind her, legs wide apart for balance, moving in on her like a predator, his arms snaking around her waist and mouth going to the crook of her neck.

She groaned non-appreciatively. ‘Neal, it’s hot’ she complained, irritated. 

‘You’re right, it is’ he murmured lewdly in her ear.

‘Stop it. I mean it’s ‘hot’ hot’ she said trying to shoo him away without the use of her hands.

‘Sara…’ he whispered huskily in his best sexy voice ‘I _want_ you.’

She let out a half-hearted titter in response to his attempt at seducing her and gave him a playful shove with her rear end which only seemed to spur Neal on. He pressed himself up against her even more insistently.

‘I mean it Neal’ she said, frustrated by his impulsive behaviour. ‘Stop! The kids are right around the corner.’

He let out a soft moan filled with longing and desire and he continued on his quest, letting his hands move over her hips and down her belly towards parts unmentionable.

‘I’m just _hugging_ you...’ he ventured innocently as he rubbed himself lewdly against her. 

He could hear Liam’s giggles growing louder as the kids returned, Hope following the baby at a snail’s pace, holding his tiny little hands in hers. Neal resorted to a more G-rated pose, his arms still wrapped around Sara’s waist as the kids came into view, oblivious to their parents standing by the sink. Within seconds, they disappeared again and Neal’s hands returned to the X-rated parts of his wife’s anatomy as she half-heartedly tried to pry him loose.

‘Babe...’ he whispered as his hands moved up to cup her breasts. ‘Tell me you don’t want this.’

She couldn’t deny the involuntary response her husband’s groping was having on her lady parts but they were standing in their kitchen with their kids nearby and she was exhausted from her day at work, sweating profusely as her hands soaked in disgustingly dirty dishwater on one of the hottest days of the year. Her husband’s lack of self-control drove her crazy – although that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. But there was a time and a place for everything and this was neither the time nor the place for his little upsurge of desire. 

She faltered for a brief second before finally delivering a decisive elbow to his ribs, reminding him that she could pretty well take care of herself in any situation, and Neal let out a howl at the sudden stab of pain.

‘I warned you’ she said with a naughty smile as he protested and finally stepped back.

‘You are _so_ mean...’ he began with mock hurt, stopping as the kids came into view.

Hope let Liam fall gently on his bum and walked over to where her parents stood, staring each other down.

‘Daddy, can we go out for ice cream?’ she asked as she tugged on his pant leg.

‘Apparently...’ Neal said curtly as he looked irately at his wife. ‘There are no _treats_ on weeknights.’

WCWCWC

‘You’re not still mad at me, are you?’ Sara asked, eyes fluttering as she slipped into bed next to Neal.

He was reading a case file and although he was immersed in what he was reading, it took but a second for him to refocus his attention on her, looking up at her face expectantly.

‘That depends’ he scoffed. ‘Are you ready to make it up to me?’

‘Awww, did I hurt your feelings, baby?’ she teased as she ran her hand suggestively up his leg.

He _could_ have played the wronged card a little longer but what was the point when she was finally coming around. Besides, that gentle, lingering touch on his leg was already sending messages straight to his groin.

‘I can be the bigger person... forgive and forget’ he said magnanimously as he waited a few seconds before reacting.

It wouldn’t do to look overeager although someone had forgotten to mention that to his achingly needy body. His hands slipped seamlessly from the FBI case file to Sara’s hips as the stack of papers tumbled off the bed in a messy pile.

‘Time and place, Caffrey’ she said into his ear as her body began to respond to his ministrations.

‘Mmmmm’ he answered, already revved up and ready for action.

His hands began to move eagerly over her body, foreplay kept to a minimum as he reacted impulsively to his baser instincts.

‘Oh! Neal!’ she said, pulling away and vying for his undivided attention. ‘Did you lock the bedroom door?’

If there was one thing they’d learned, it was that Hope could come in at any time, uninvited and unannounced and over time, they’d taken the necessary precautions to ensure they had some privacy.

‘It’s fine...’ he mumbled, already tugging at her underwear. ‘She’s asleep.’

‘No. Stop!’ Sara said urgently ‘Please?... the door.’

She hated being interrupted when they were having sex but more than anything, she didn’t want to have to answer any more of Hope’s probing questions. The six-year-old already knew the basics regarding reproductive sex but there were things Sara Ellis was _never_ going to be comfortable discussing with her daughter.

Neal let out an impatient puff of air and practically vaulted over her on his way to secure their bedroom door. He was back in an instant, pulling off his sleep pants and practically tripping over his own feet in a not so nimble attempt at rejoining her on the bed.

They resumed their pose, Neal returning his hands and mouth to where they’d previously been roaming, humming in appreciation as Sara responded in kind. His mouth moved to the crook of her neck, in easy reach of that spot behind her ear that always drove her mad and perfectly positioned to whisper dirty little things in her ear, spurring her on to greater heights. His hands, meanwhile, were making the rounds, over her breasts, around her hips, down her belly on a quest to get her so turned on, there would be _no_ turning back.

Despite those wonderful sensations all over her body, Sara’s mind wasn’t totally focussed on the task at hand. Her yearly evaluation was coming up at work and she was feeling anxious about it - plus she had to remember to pick up that beige suit from the dry cleaners...As Neal continued on his quest, she did a mental check of everybody’s lunches for the next day – did she remember to put that apple in Hope’s lunch box?She’d have to check.

Neal was moaning and groaning next to her, his body wrapped around hers, in search of stimulating sensations from head to toe. He took her hand in his, bringing it to where he felt it would do the most good and Sara resisted, pulling away as she tried to get a glimpse into his dark eyes.

‘The stove’ she said suddenly.

‘What?’ he asked, incredulous.

This was no time for talking, except maybe for those naughty little things Sara lovingly whispered in his ear that drove him crazy – ‘the stove’, however, was not a part of her usual repertoire.

‘I think I forgot to check the stove after I made the hard boiled eggs’ she said, looking pensive.

‘You’re kidding me, right?’ Neal said, on the edge of losing his cool.

‘No, I’m sorry, honey. Could you please go and check?’ she asked, breathless.

‘I will, in a minute’ Neal said, pulling her back against him and grabbing her hand once more.

‘Please...’ she pleaded as she lay there, biting her lower lip. ‘I won’t be able to enjoy it if you don’t.’

She stared at him looking totally debauched, her hair mussed and her lips parted - a look that drove Neal absolutely crazy. He couldn’t deny her anything when she looked at him that way, eyelashes fluttering and tongue darting out in anticipation.

He let out this guttural groan and managed to tear himself away – again – leaping off the bed and grabbing for his sleep pants. Sara watched as he sprinted out of the bedroom and heard his precipitous footfalls on the steps, the speed of which she’d rarely heard. Within seconds, she heard them again, growing nearer and Neal reappeared, taking a brief second to lock the door behind him and pulling off his sleep pants before leaping back into bed alongside his wife.

‘Are we good?’ he asked breathlessly, now moving from eager to frantic.

If she did this one more time, he was going to go out of his mind.

She nodded although he could see something else in her eyes.

‘What?!? What is it?’ he said, rather louder than he’d meant to.

She looked up sheepishly at his fevered gaze.

‘Did you check the front door?’

WCWCWC

‘So, what do you think? Can you give me a hand on this one?’ Peter asked as he stared anxiously at his ex-CI.

He’d been hoping to entice Neal with this rather mundane task. Having his best friend on board always made any case they were working more stimulating and frankly, more fun - plus Peter had a hidden agenda he’d managed to keep from him thus far.

‘I just don’t get it Peter’ Neal replied with a frown. ‘I’ve already done all the leg work on this. Do you really want to invest Bureau resources to go out to all the banks and give them my feedback in person? Isn’t that overkill? They all got a copy of my report.’

Neal glanced down at the file once again. There was something he was missing and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Following a series of bank robberies in other major cities, Peter had hired Neal to review major New York banks’ protocols and practices, identifying flaws and weaknesses. Neal had spent the last two months visiting financial institutions and preparing a comprehensive report of their vulnerabilities, all in an effort to avoid the fate major banks had suffered in Chicago and Denver.

Peter stuttered as he spoke. ’Well… we didn’t have this guy’s MO when you did your research. I think you and Diana should pay them all a visit and let them know how this guy operates and make sure they’re on their guard...’

Frankly, to Neal’s ears, it all sounded rather fishy, like Peter was making stuff up as he was going along. 

Despite his efforts to stay up after his little foray the night before, Neal had been blissfully exhausted and he’d fallen asleep before making it all the way through the thick stack of police reports following the thefts. He’d gotten the gist of it though, and he was intrigued by the criminal the White Collar Unit had been chasing for the past few months.

‘This guy’s got balls, I’ll give you that’ he said as he continued studying the case file. ‘But I still don’t get why you want to revisit the banks… have you gotten new intel that he’s going to strike here in New York?’

Peter glanced out nervously at the bull pen, making sure a certain someone wasn’t within earshot.

‘Okay, okay' he finally admitted in an exaggerated whisper, his eyes darting from Neal to the desks below. 'The truth is… Well, it’s Diana... she’s adamant about staying in the field and frankly, I worry about her at this late stage.’

Neal stared down his ex-handler, his eyes narrowing as things finally came into focus. 

‘What? So you’re telling me you’re sending her on a make-work project... and you want _me_ to babysit her?’ he said, finally putting two and two together.

‘No... it’s not... well, not exactly’ Peter said, his voice quiet. ‘Neal, it’s Diana... they don’t call her Badass Berrigan for nothing and... these last few weeks, she’s been particularly... badass.’

Neal took a step back as if he’d touched a hot stove. ‘Oh, no you don’t!’ he said. ‘ _Don’t_ get me involved. Look, I tried to hold the door for her on the way in and she practically bit my head off.’

Just as Peter had done moments before, Neal’s eyes moved to the bullpen, checking if the mom-to-be was nearby. How two big guys the likes of Caffrey and Burke could become completely knocked off their game by a few pregnancy hormones was beyond belief.

‘Yeah but you _know_ about this stuff – ‘ Peter began as Neal interrupted.

‘Huh, no!’ Neal protested, a little too loudly. ‘I _suffered_ through this stuff, it’s not the same thing.’

‘Look, Neal’ Peter pleaded, sounding rather desperate. ‘I’m calling in a favour here. I can’t put her on leave until she agrees to it and Hughes is on my case about all this health and safety stuff... I need to keep her busy without putting her in any potentially dangerous situations and this should keep her busy for at least a week.’

‘This is Diana we’re talking about’ Neal whispered, glancing nervously towards the agent’s desk as she sat talking on the phone. ‘She’s far from gullible. Doesn’t she know I’ve put all my recommendations in my report?’

Peter looked guiltily at his CI; he’d obviously kept certain things from his best agent. 

‘Peter! This is like... the worst assignment you’ve ever given me.’

Neal’s voice grew louder and Peter checked to make sure Diana wasn’t within earshot. His eyes began to search the bullpen, noticing she was no longer at her desk.

‘You’re basically paying me to babysit one of your best agents for the next few days!’ Neal blurted out, pretty well summing up the situation.

‘Come on, Neal.I’ll owe you one...’ Peter began as Diana appeared out of nowhere, poking her head inside Peter’s office with a scowl.

‘Hey, what are you guys talking about?’ she asked as the two men looked up guiltily. 

She came fully into view, seemingly frustrated and annoyed and looking as big as a ... well, maybe not a house but a room, a very large room.

‘We were just... talking about the bank case’ Peter lied. ‘Neal’s going to work with you... with us on it’ he corrected as Neal gave him a dirty look.

Had Peter just sold him out, leaving him without an escape route?

‘Really Caffrey?’ Diana asked, sounding innocent and _almost_ normal - although Neal knew better.

‘Apparently so’ he stuttered, cornered.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

'Daddy, why do we have to learn math? It's stupid!' Hope complained - as she did most nights while she struggled with her homework.

Neal ignored the question he'd tried unsuccessfully to answer every night for the past several weeks and zeroed in on Hope's hand as it continued to fiddle with the stubborn tooth she'd been obsessing with for the past few days. He touched her arm, gently pulling her hand away from her mouth for the umpteenth time in the last half hour.

'Honey, take your hand out of your mouth' he admonished. 'It'll fall out when it's good and ready.'

'But it's _bugging_ me!' she whined as her hand immediately returned to her mouth, tugging at the offensive tooth in an effort to pull it out.

Hope's fidgeting was driving him crazy. Whenever she started whining, she could go on for hours and he was just about at the end of his tether. He cursed himself for not having offered to be on the much easier bath duty – Sara always seemed to be on the winning end of that equation.

Luckily, the end of the school year was in sight and he would soon be getting a reprieve from the tedious job of homework supervision - at least for a couple of months. He wondered in passing, how he’d managed to inherit homework duty in the first place and he shook his head, returning to the task at hand.

‘Come on honey, concentrate. Count it out – two plus three’ he said, noticing Hope was staring off into space.

Desperate times called for desperate measures; it was time to revert to bribery. ’Look, if you get a good mark on your test next week, I’ll take you out for frozen yogurt to celebrate’ he said in desperation.

‘Watermelon?’ she asked, her face suddenly animated.

‘Whatever you want’ Neal answered, pointing to the page.

‘With gummy bears… and marshmallows?’ she asked, her eyes bright.

‘Sure...’ Neal answered with a grimace as he thought of the nasty combination of toppings.

He heard a loud giggle and looked up to find Liam coming towards him in that strange way he’d discovered of pushing himself off of one leg while crawling with the other. The little guy arrived at his side and latched onto the kitchen chair Neal was sitting on, pulling himself to a standing position, his arms wide open in anticipation.

'Papapapapa!' he called out as Neal leaned down and picked him up, settling him on his lap.

'Hey buddy!' What are _you_ doing here?’ he said as he placed a kiss on the top of his head.

'There you are!' Sara said breathlessly as she entered the kitchen in hot pursuit. 'He's getting really fast. I swear, I turned my back for one second...'

Neal looked back at his flustered wife; maybe there was a way to turn her obvious frustration to his advantage.

'Do you want to switch? _I_ don't mind giving him his bath if you want to sit and help Hope finish her homework' he said as he conjured up a virtuous smile.

'Really?' Sara said, wiping her brow. 'You don’t mind?'

Neal stood, trying not to look _too_ keen as he did an internal happy dance.

'Of course not' he whispered as he kissed her forehead. 'Anything for _you_ babe, you know that!'

'Oh, honey! Thanks!' Sara said with a wide grin. 'I owe you one!'

Neal winked at her magnanimously, pushing his luck and jockeying for some extra bonus points he could put to use in order to go to Jones' poker night on the weekend. He was mentally congratulating himself on his superior conning skills when a familiar noxious odour emanating from Liam's diaper finally hit his nostrils, full tilt.

Damn it - foiled again!

WCWCWC

'What do you think you're _doing_ up there?' Christie Cooper bellowed as she stepped into the bedroom.

Diana teetered at the top of the stepladder, paintbrush in hand and stared back at her girlfriend. ‘The trim!’ she exclaimed sarcastically.

‘Do you have a death wish or something?’ Christie shouted as she got closer and grabbed a hold of the bottom of the ladder in order to keep it secure.

‘Christie! I’m pregnant, I’m not an invalid’ Diana replied as she turned her back on her and resumed painting, totally ignoring her.

Diana Berrigan was one of the most fearless individuals Christie had ever met. It was one of the reasons she’d been attracted to the woman in the first place and yet, at times, it was also her worst character flaw, driving her to take risks Christie would prefer she didn’t take.

Her resolve and determination had served Diana Berrigan well throughout her career as an FBI agent. She _had_ to be fearless in her job in order to face dangerous criminals and come out on top but now there was another little person to consider and Christie had been pleading with Diana to start her maternity leave already – to no avail.

‘I _know_ you’re not an invalid but climbing up on a ladder when your centre of gravity is displaced is _not_ a good idea’ Christie insisted.

Diana let out a frustrated sigh and slowly climbed down the four steps to the ground, rolling her eyes as she came face to face with her better half.

‘Honey, you’re carrying around an extra fifty pounds - ’ Christie moaned as she lovingly touched Diana’s arm.

‘Forty-seven!’ Diana corrected loudly, annoyed.

‘Fine! _Forty-seven_ extra pounds’ Christie continued, her voice patient. ‘And you’re acting like it’s business as usual. Babe, you can’t be as nimble or run as fast as you did before.’

Diana stared back, irritated.

‘Yes I can!’ she argued as Christie put an arm around her shoulder, drawing her into a hug.

‘I just don’t want you getting hurt or have anything happen to the baby.’

‘I’m not going to let anything happen to the baby!’ Diana shouted, hormones raging.

No matter what she said or did, Christie could see she was going to be on the losing end of this battle and she took a deep breath, trying to keep things from escalating into an all out fight.

‘I came in to tell you dinner’s ready’ she said as she took Diana’s hand. ‘Come on… I made asparagus quiche.’

‘Christie!’ Diana whined. ‘Don’t you ever listen! I told you, I’m _off_ asparagus. It gives me heartburn.’

Christie sighed, trying to keep her cool. ‘Then, how about I make you a nice tuna fish sandwich, with extra mayo’ she offered. It seemed her girlfriend was existing exclusively on tuna fish sandwiches lately.

Diana smiled in response. Even _she_ had to admit she’d been wound a little tight lately. At least Peter and the team weren’t treating her any differently. She had two more weeks to go before her due date and she was determined to keep working until the very last minute. There was something about leaving that part of herself behind she just wasn’t ready for – at least not yet.

She was grateful Peter still had her out in the field although her latest assignment was rather bland to say the least. She’d much prefer to be out there catching bad guys but she’d been tasked with escorting Neal around some of the major banks while he met with the managers to share the flaws he’d uncovered in their security. Even though Neal had done all the leg work on this case, this was still a Bureau sanctioned operation and it wouldn’t do to have a civilian out there carrying out FBI business without being accompanied by an agent.

‘By the way, it looks beautiful’ Christie said as she admired the paint job on the wall in the baby’s room. 

She pointed Diana towards the kitchen and took a last look behind her as she ushered her out of the room. Passive, aggressive wasn’t usually her style but Diana was really pushing her buttons.

‘You missed a spot’ she muttered, under her breath. 

WCWCWC

‘So, how much time off are you going to have to take?’ Sara asked as she and Neal got ready for bed.

‘Peter figures it’ll take us about a week to go around to all the major banks’ he said as he pulled on a pair of silk sleep pants and slipped under the sheets. ‘He’s counting on her going into labor _immediately_ after that.’

‘Or what?’ Sara said, amused.

‘Or he’s going to have to come up with something else to keep her happy – and safe.’

‘And Diana doesn’t know this is a make-work project?’ Sara asked as she ran a brush though her hair.

‘Doesn’t have a clue’ Neal said, grabbing for a book on the nightstand.

‘That’s an awfully dangerous game he’s playing if you ask me’ Sara commented as he shrugged.

‘Tell me about it. Peter says he’s got Hughes – and Christie – on his case about keeping her away from anything dangerous’ Neal explained.

‘Christie?’ Sara asked as she pulled back the covers and slipped in next to her husband.

‘Apparently, she’s been calling Peter every day to get updates and he’s going nuts. Everybody’s afraid to say anything that’ll upset Diana. You know, I tried to ask her how she was feeling today and she looked at me with daggers in her eyes…’

‘Poor Peter’ Sara said as she turned to face Neal, flashing him a sweet, innocent smile.

‘Honey, I wasn’t like that when _I_ was pregnant, was I?’

Neal felt his heart rate accelerate in response to the unexpected question. It was one of those ‘trick’ questions wives asked their husbands along the lines of _‘Do these pants make my butt look fat?’_ or ‘ _Does this hair colour look weird to you_?’ and he cleared his throat to buy himself a second before he spoke.

‘Of course not’ he said as he placed a kiss on the tip of her nose by means of distraction.

‘Because if _I_ ever behaved like - ’ she began as she was interrupted by sound of Hope’s voice coming from down the hall.

‘Daddy!’ she wailed.

Sara watched Neal’s face crumple as he rolled his eyes.

‘I’ll go’ she offered just as Neal swung his feet off the bed.

‘It’s okay. I’ve got it’ he said.

‘What’s the matter, sweet pea?’ he asked as he stepped into his daughter’s bedroom.

‘Daddy, I can’t sleep’ she moaned as she lay on her back, wiggling her tooth.

Neal took a seat on the edge of her bed. ‘You know, I can’t sleep either when my hand is buried deep inside my mouth’ he said sarcastically.

She looked up at him, unappreciative, her eyebrows knitted in worry. No matter how annoying this whole situation was for _him_ , he needed to remember this was really bothering her. A little compassion was in order. He gave her a smile and gently took her hand out of her mouth.

‘Open your mouth and let me take a look’ he instructed as he turned on the bedside lamp.

Hope did as she was told, eyes wide as Neal leaned in to take a good look but the moment his hand was about to reach her mouth, she clammed up, lips pursed.

‘Izz gonna hurt’ she mumbled, mouth closed.

‘I just want to see if it’s almost ready to fall out. I promise it won’t hurt’ he said as he ran his hand through her hair and stared into her eyes.

Hope obeyed, closing her eyes tightly and opening her mouth wide as Neal grinned.

He quickly found the offending tooth and gave it a gentle tug. ‘Is that the one?’ he asked.

It seemed Hope was losing a tooth every second week lately and he ran his finger gently over her gums, noticing a couple of other teeth were beginning to get wobbly.

Hope kept her eyes firmly closed and nodded, her nose scrunched up for good measure.

‘Ow, ow, ow, ow’ she shouted.

‘Honey, I’m not even touching anything’ Neal said as he watched her little face.

‘Oh’ she said with a pout as she closed her mouth.

‘Can’t you pull it out with some pliers?’ she asked as Neal laughed.

‘Pliers? You wouldn’t even let me touch it with my finger a minute ago’ he said with soft laugh.

Hope sighed. ‘Or you could tie a string around it and tie it to the doorknob and slam the door.’

Neal looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face, finally clueing in. ‘Sounds like you’ve been talking to Uncle Mozzie.’

She nodded. ‘He said that’s how he got all his baby teeth to come out.’

‘Honey, it’s late. Leave your tooth alone. Maybe it’ll fall out on its own during the night.’

‘But what if I swallow it? Then the tooth fairy won’t come’ she cried.

‘Don’t worry about the tooth fairy’ Neal said, beginning to run out of patience. ‘I’ll vouch for you.’

Hope gave him a worried look and Neal leaned in to kiss her forehead.

‘It’s going to be fine, honey. Sleep!’ he ordered before turning off the lamp and leaving the room.

‘Crisis averted?’ Sara asked as he returned to bed.

‘She’s obsessed with that tooth’ he said as he lay down beside her and grabbed for his book.

‘You know, I was thinking about Diana and Christie. It’s been awhile since we’ve had them over for dinner. Why don’t you invite them over Saturday night’ she suggested.

Neal already had to put up with Diana’s foul humour on a daily basis – having her over for dinner seemed like cruel and unusual punishment. He shrugged, obviously lukewarm to the idea.

‘Come on, honey. Have a heart. Those last few weeks are always really tough’ Sara reminded him as she curled up against him.

‘I suppose’ Neal said as he suddenly remembered Saturday was poker night at Clinton’s place. Maybe he could find a way to get into Sara’s good graces _and_ still meet up with the guys as planned.

He gave her a devious smile.

‘You’re right!’ he said. ‘How come you’re _always_ right… but let’s make it Friday okay? I think Diana said something about having theatre tickets on Saturday night’ he fibbed.

‘Thanks honey, you’re the best!’ she said as she hugged him tight.

Caffrey 2 – Ellis 0.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Mary-Ann Reynolds took a deep breath and tried her luck again.

‘All right, first graders in a straight line. Please!' she instructed as the twenty or so six-year-olds chatted loudly in the school gym. 'Quiet please!’

'This is stupid' Hope whispered to her best friend.

'I _like_ having my picture taken' Olivia Mason replied, all decked out in a cute little dress covered in bright red ladybugs.

'So do I… but not when I have this big gap between my teeth' Hope argued, pointing to the spot where her top incisor had fallen out a couple of weeks before.

Olivia giggled at the sight. She hadn't started losing her teeth yet and she was anxious for the status symbol – and the extra cash left behind by the tooth fairy.

'You're lucky, Hope. You've already lost three teeth and you've made fifteen dollars' the child said.

'I don't _feel_ lucky. Now, everyone is going to see my ugly smile…'

Olivia raised her eyebrows. 'They can see it already, stupid' she said.

'Don't call me stupid' Hope retorted as she gave her best friend a shove.

'Hope Caffrey! That's enough' came the teacher's voice as Olivia gave her friend an ' _I told you so'_ look.

The line continued to move slowly, each child taking his or her turn in front of the camera as Hope cringed. Her mom had bought her a pretty little outfit complete with leggings and a cute turquoise top with a bright yellow star. She’d even talked Sara into buying some matching shoes. She looked down and tugged nervously at her top as Olivia's name was called.

Suddenly, this picture thing didn’t seem like such a good idea. Hope took one furtive glance at her teacher, who was busy fussing with Olivia's hair, and she slipped out of the line and into the nearby bathroom.

WCWCWC

‘Neal, I really appreciate you doing this’ Peter said as they stood in the little kitchenette of the White Collar offices.

‘I see you still haven't upgraded the coffee around here’ Neal groused as he grimaced at the taste of the inferior blend of sludge which was on offer.

‘This is the FBI, not Starbucks’ Peter reminded him. ‘Our coffee _has_ to be bad – it adds to our credibility.’

‘Hey gentlemen’ Jones said as he stepped into the small space to help himself to a cup.

‘Are you both still in for the big poker game on Saturday night?'

‘Yeah!’ both men answered enthusiastically. Peter looked up at Neal in surprise.

'What did you have to do to get the night off?' he asked, taking a jab at his best friend.

Ever since Liam's arrival the previous year, solo outings were negotiated very carefully - whether it was for Sara or Neal - and these things had to be planned way ahead of time.

‘There may have been a few foot massages involved…’ Neal admitted grudgingly. ‘… and maybe a few extra poopy diapers to change’ he mumbled under his breath.

Jones and Peter chuckled; better him than them.

‘Well, make sure you bring some serious cash, gentlemen, because I plan on cleaning you out' Clinton declared as he rubbed his hands together in glee.

Suddenly a commotion was heard by the elevator and Peter looked up to see what all the fuss was about.

‘Tornado at eleven o’clock’ he mumbled under his breath.

Neal looked up to see Diana Berrigan, struggling as she tried to manoeuvre around the poor, hapless mailroom guy who was doing his best to get around her imposing form.

‘Watch where you're going!’ they heard the agent gripe as she made her way into the bullpen, sporting her usual scowl.

This whole thing had to end soon or she would end up alienating every single member of the White Collar Division.

‘Good morning Diana’ Peter called out cheerfully in an effort to circumvent her foul mood, something he knew from experience would have zero chance of success.

'Where do we get these clowns, anyway?’ she groused as she got closer.

Neal and Jones exchanged a furtive look – or so they thought.

‘What are you two looking at?’ she asked as she made her way to her desk and threw her bag down on her chair.

‘Sir?’ one of the probies interrupted as the three men stood there mesmerized at how one solitary pregnant woman could singlehandedly cause men to scatter to the four corners of the offices.

‘Yes Paulson’ Peter said, happy for the distraction.

‘Sir, there’s been a theft at the Morrison Gallery over on the Upper West Side’ the man said. ‘I've got the curator on the phone.’

Diana's mood seemed to brighten instantly, her ears perking up, and she stepped forward, joining the men.

‘That sounds juicy!’ she said as Peter gave her an apprehensive look.

'You already _have_ an assignment’ he reminded her as he headed for the stairs towards his office.

Neal glanced in Diana's direction; she looked like she might be ready to blow a gasket any minute and he inadvertently took a step back to make sure he was out of striking range.

‘Peter…!’ Diana moaned as he continued on his way, ignoring her pleas.

‘I made muffins for us’ Neal attempted as he held up a small bag.

‘Banana, as I recall that’s your favourite’ he added in a bid to placate the female agent.

‘Caffrey, you're about three months behind on the news. Bananas give me gas’ she complained without hesitation.

Neal frowned at the superfluous information; a simple _'no thanks'_ would have sufficed.

‘Well, how about I spring for a nice latte on the way to the Federal Bank’ he offered as he grabbed for his hat.

'Whatever… as long as it's decaf' Diana mumbled as she grabbed for her purse and took one last glance up at Peter who could be seen chatting on the phone up in his office.

'But I have to pee first' she declared unceremoniously as she started for the door.

Neal gave Jones one last pleading look.

‘Good luck’ Jones said as he walked away.

WCWCWC

The job was simple enough – too simple, actually – for a seasoned agent like Diana Berrigan: accompany Caffrey as he met with bank managers to deliver his verdict on the loopholes in their security. The FBI needed to show they were being proactive in the case of the yet unidentified mastermind who'd been cleaning out bank vaults from Denver to Boston. Of course, unbeknownst to the agent, she was the one who was being babysat and Neal prayed that she wouldn't figure that out anytime soon.

Neal's usual MO of 'killing with kindness' was paying very poor dividends where Diana was concerned and he cringed as he wondered how he was going to survive the next six or so hours, let alone the next week.

'Can I help you with that?' Neal asked as she struggled with the oversize door at the front of the bank building.

'No, you _can't_ help me with that' she replied acerbically as Neal continued to smile.

'Sara and I were talking last night and we wondered if you and Christie might like to come over for dinner tomorrow night' he said with all the false enthusiasm he could muster.

'Oh yeah?' Diana said. 'What are you making?’

At the moment, food was a big issue for the mom-to-be. There seemed to be very little that didn't cause indigestion or an unpleasant back-up at the other end.

'Whatever you want' Neal answered pleasantly. 'What are you in the mood for?’

'You know, I've been craving shrimp' Diana said. 'You know, those huge shrimp… like a shrimp cocktail.’

'That can be arranged' Neal said confidently, hoping to make some headway.

Diana let out a sigh as she absentmindedly rubbed her lower back. 'Sorry if I snapped at you earlier' she said as Neal smiled innocently.

'You didn't snap at me…' he lied, going for bonus points.

'Yes I did' she replied, her voice escalating. 'Stop trying to con me, Caffrey!’

He shrugged innocently as they slowly made their way into the bank offices, Diana flashing her badge. He slowed down, giving her time to catch up.

'What the hell…' she muttered, returning to her previous foul mood. 'Move it Caffrey!'

WCWCWC

Mrs. Reynolds did a quick headcount of her class as the group prepared to return to the classroom for their math quiz. She panicked as she realized she was short one student and she began the count again as she surveyed the group. Her eyes fell on Olivia Mason and suddenly, she frowned, realizing her loyal sidekick wasn't by her side.

'Where's Hope?' she asked Olivia.

The child shrugged. 'I don't know. She was right beside me and when I came back from having my picture taken, she was gone.’

There was a moment of alarm as the young woman glanced nervously around the gym. Losing a kid was right up there as one of the cardinal sins of teaching and as a first year teacher, she was acutely aware of that.

'Louisa!' she called out to the eighth grade student who sometimes helped her after class. 'Can you stay with the group? I've lost one of my kids.’

'Sure' said the thirteen-year-old. 'Is it Hope Caffrey?’

The teacher looked up at the teenager with a question in her eyes.

'She's hiding out in the bathroom' she volunteered. 'Something about the gap between her teeth…’

Mrs. Reynolds made her way to the nearby washroom and with relief, found Hope, sitting on a toilet in an open stall, her pretty little outfit carefully laid out around her.

'Hope!' she said as she struggled to join her in the cramped space. 'I was looking for you.’

'Sorry Mrs. Reynolds' Hope said, realizing what she'd done.

The kind teacher crouched down in front of her student and lay a hand on her arm.

'That's a beautiful outfit you're wearing today' she commented. 'And I'm loving the matching shoes.’

'My mom bought it for me… for picture day' Hope admitted as she looked down fondly at the outfit she'd begged her mom to buy.

'It's a great choice. It's too bad you're not getting your picture taken' Mrs. Reynolds said.

'I don't want everybody to laugh at my smile' Hope admitted.

'But you have a lovely smile.’

Hope looked up shyly at the pretty teacher and shrugged. 'Jordan Watson said I looked like a hockey player' Hope said, her voice sad.

'Well, I think Jordan might be a little jealous' answered Mrs. Reynolds with a soft laugh.

Her voice dropped to a whisper as she continued 'He told me he can't wait to lose his first tooth… but he's a late bloomer.’

Hope's eyes brightened a little at the secret the teacher had just shared.

'The good news is you've got one less tooth to brush' the woman said as Hope smiled a bright, toothless grin.

'My mother used to say ' _Other than a dimple in a cute little chin, what's more adorable than a toothless grin'_ Mrs. Reynolds added, touching Hope's nose gently as the child laughed out loud.

'See, you look _very_ pretty' she added as she took Hope's hand.

'Now, I know the photographer is still in the gym. How about I take you over and we can get your picture taken?’

Hope stood and followed her out.

WCWCWC

'Thanks for your time, Mr. Simmons' Neal said as they wrapped up their meeting.

Diana stood around, feeling totally useless. _Caffrey_ was the one with all the information to share and she'd been surprised that the bank manager hadn't seemed more appreciative of all the advice Neal was sharing.

'Thanks for the visit Mr. Caffrey' the man said. 'I did get most of the information from – ' he began as he reached for Neal's report nearby.

Neal cut him off; the last thing he needed was for Agent Berrigan to learn that everything he'd just told the man had already been laid out in black and white in his excellently written report (if Neal said so himself).

'I know that Agent Burke gave you the broad strokes over the phone' Neal said, expertly deflecting. 'But I thought you might appreciate having the finer points laid out for you.’

The man frowned at Neal's response and Neal glanced at Diana, hoping she hadn't picked up on the manager's look of confusion. Diana seemed more intent on remaining in a standing position as she moved her considerable weight from one foot to the other, trying to stay upright.

'Thanks again Mr. Simmons. Have a good day' Neal said as he shook the man's hand.

'Well, that was about as exciting as watching paint dry' Diana said caustically as Neal led her away and back towards the exit.

'Look, we've got a little time before our next appointment' he said as they hit the street. 'Why don't we take a load off and I'll buy you some lunch?’

'What are you saying, Caffrey, that I'm fat?' Diana answered defensively.

Neal couldn’t win to save his life. ‘I'm pretty sure I didn't say that’ he said, going for the save.

‘I could use a break and I thought you might enjoy one too' he added.

This walking on eggshells was painfully tedious work.

'Fine' Diana grumbled. 'But nothing spicy!’

'Nothing spicy' Neal repeated as he followed her up the street.

This assignment couldn't end soon enough!

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

‘Everything all right?’ Sara asked as she stepped into the bathroom and found Neal staring at himself in the vanity mirror.

He pulled his eyes away to look at her and smiled. ‘Just trying to summon my inner Buddha’ he mumbled.

‘That bad, huh?’ she asked with a soft laugh.

He turned to face her, leaning back against the counter. ‘It’s like this crazy banshee hidden inside this seemingly normal person. I mean, Diana’s pretty direct at the best of times but this…’

‘Honey, hormones play havoc with your ability to control your emotions. It’s hard to explain’ Sara said as she ran her hand down his arm. ‘She doesn’t mean any of it, I’m sure.’

‘I know’ Neal said as he turned back to look at himself. ‘It doesn’t make it any easier when she bites your head off.’

‘Daddy, I need to pee’ Hope said as she appeared in the doorway, fidgeting.

Neal motioned her in and stepped away, returning to the bedroom to finish getting dressed.

‘So, have you decided on the menu for tonight?’

‘Diana mentioned she’s been craving shrimp so I thought I’d make shrimp risotto’ he said as he picked up a tie for his wife’s approval.

Sara shook her head, handing him a different one which he took from her as he began to tie a perfect Windsor knot.

‘Sounds great’ she responded.

‘I was wondering if we should invite Peter and Elizabeth… you know, as a buffer.’

‘Sure’ Sara said. ‘I can call El this morning and see if they’re free.’

‘Oh, they’re free!’ Neal said as he headed out the door. ‘Peter owes me one.’

WCWCWC

Friday was more of the same. Diana being ornery and Neal trying to keep her from finding out that he was repeating practically verbatim what was in the report the banks had already received. Neal managed to keep it together and by mid-afternoon, Diana was huffing and puffing as they climbed the stairs up to the second floor office of the bank manager at the Mutual Bank.

‘Why don’t you sit here and wait for me’ Neal suggested as they passed a small sitting area right outside the man’s office.

She rolled her eyes at him then seemed to think better of it. ‘Would you mind?’ she asked as she rubbed her stomach.

‘Have you started getting contractions?’ Neal asked as he leaned in.

‘Yeah, lots’ she admitted. ‘It just seems to hit when you least expect it.’

‘I remember with Hope, we ended up in emergency one night when Sara was about 37 weeks along. We thought ‘this is it’… but they sent us home. We were pretty disappointed.’

Diana smiled as she listened; Neal wasn’t so bad after all.

‘Sara used to lie on her side to take the pressure off.That helped a little’ Neal added, his look faraway. It seemed like just yesterday they were waiting for Hope’s arrival and now he was dealing with a six-year-old whose teeth were falling out. Time sure flew.

‘Mr. Caffrey?’ a woman’s voice was heard. ‘Mr. Carroll will see you know.’

‘Knock ‘em dead, Caffrey’ Diana said as she frowned in pain.

WCWCWC

‘Uncle Peter!’ Hope shouted as she opened the door to find her godparents standing there.

Her arms instantly went around his legs as Elizabeth beamed.

‘Hi sweetie’ Peter said as he scooped her up for a hug.

‘Oh, my God. Look at you, getting your grown-up teeth!’ he exclaimed as Hope gave him a huge toothless grin.

‘And look’ she said bringing her finger to the loose tooth on the bottom. ‘This one’s going to fall out any minute!’

‘Peter! Elizabeth! Come on in’ Neal said as he appeared, carrying Liam in his arms. ‘Sara’s in the kitchen making some iced tea. Diana and Christie are already here.’

Elizabeth followed Hope into the kitchen while Peter fell back, grabbing Neal’s arm and lowering his voice.

‘Didn’t take you long to call in that favour’ he grumbled.

‘Don’t even _go_ there. I’ve had two solid days of bitching and complaining while I try to keep my foot out of my mouth. You can certainly sit through dinner’ he whispered as they joined the group around the kitchen island.

‘Christie, hi!’ Peter said as he kissed Diana’s girlfriend on the cheek.

‘Peter… it’s been awhile’ she fibbed – considering she had spoken to him twice the previous day.

Diana sat rather uncomfortably, her body overflowing on the stool Sara had pulled up for her.

‘Why don’t we go sit outside. We’ll be more comfortable out there’ Neal suggested as he handed a squirming Liam over to his aunt Elizabeth.

‘I’ve got some appetizers all set up out there’ he added, putting out his arm to help Diana stand.

Christie gave him the evil eye just a fraction of a second too late to avoid having Diana smack his hand away. ‘I don’t _need_ help, Caffrey’ she grumbled as she grabbed on to the nearby kitchen counter to yank herself up.

Sara exchanged a knowing look with her husband and walked over to take Diana’s arm.

‘Come on Diana, I’ve got just what you need’ she said authoritatively as Christie looked on, curious.

Somehow, Sara’s calm, decisive manner was just what the mom-to-be needed and she let herself be led out to the patio where Sara had arranged some pillows on one of the lounge chairs.

‘Sit’ she said as she propped up the pillows for Diana. ‘I’ll get you something to drink.’

Peter and Neal exchanged stunned looks with Christie and the three of them watched in disbelief as Diana sighed deeply and melted into the chair, suddenly relaxed – a rare occurrence theses days.

‘Why don’t I get you a beer?’ Neal said to Peter, suddenly feeling awkward.

‘I’ll help you’ Peter offered, unnecessarily.

‘Me too’ added Christie, following suit.

The three of them made their way back to the kitchen, congregating around the island as they exchanged looks of astonishment.

‘What just happened out there?’ Christie asked.

Peter and Neal looked at each other, mouths agape. ‘I don’t know but maybe I can ask Sara to come along with us when we visit the National Bank on Monday’ Neal said with a chuckle.

‘Wow!’ Peter nodded, in agreement.

‘You know I can’t seem to say the right thing to save my life, lately’ Christie admitted to the two men. ‘She’d even argue if I said the sky was blue.’

‘Tell me about it’ Neal said. ‘No matter what I say or do, she’s acts like a raving lunatic… sorry Christie!’

‘No apology needed. I totally get it, believe me. The more I fuss and ask what I can do to help, the more pissed off she seems to get.’

It seemed to be confession time and Peter piped up with his own little revelation. ‘You know, I hate to admit it but the other day, I saw her coming towards my office with that look in her eye and I picked up the phone and pretended to be talking to someone so she’d go away.’

Neal and Christie looked at each other in commiseration; being in Diana Berrigan’s presence these days was a particularly painful experience.

Neal glanced out the patio door, noticing Elizabeth and Sara chatting away with a smiling Diana as she sipped on a glass of iced tea.

‘Warning!’ he called out with a head nod. ‘Alternate universe!’

WCWCWC

‘Here, try this pillow under your knees’ Sara suggested as she walked over to where Diana sat. ‘I used to get this tugging sensation at the bottom of my stomach and this helped’ she added as Diana let out a sigh of relief.

‘I know!’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s like there’s not enough skin to go around. Ah! This iced tea is amazing.’

Sara smiled as Elizabeth looked on.

‘I can’t believe how much my life is about to change’ Diana confided. ‘I’m not ready to let go of… the way things are.’

‘I totally get it’ Sara said. ‘I remember having moments of sheer panic those last few days before Hope was born – wondering what the hell I thought I was doing.’

Diana nodded in agreement. ‘And all Christie wants to talk about is where we should place the crib and if we should consider formula or not. Hell, I’ve got an alien growing inside me and it’s totally taken over my life. And then, there’s Peter and Neal acting all overprotective… I can’t _stand_ it anymore.’

Sara glanced over at Hope and Liam, playing in the nearby sandbox; she couldn’t imagine her life without the two of them – or Neal for that matter. She wasn’t quite sure when the transformation had occurred. It had been gradual but one day, she’d stopped being terrified about what she was losing and she’d started to enjoy being surrounded by all that love and energy.

‘I’d like to be able to tell you that things will go back to the way they were, but I’d be lying’ Sara said as Elizabeth looked on. ‘It’s different but it’s… better, more balanced… more complete.’

Diana rubbed her tummy as a contraction hit and Sara moved in to take her hand.

‘Thanks’ Diana said as she grabbed on and squeezed. 

WCWCWC

‘Honey, she’s scared, that’s all. I remember those last few days, sitting at June’s place, feeling terrified. Meanwhile you were off doing your regular thing at work and I kept wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into’ Sara admitted as she lay in Neal’s arms.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ he said, running his hand up and down her arm.

‘You were on cloud nine. For you, it was all about seeing Hope’s face for the first time and holding her in your arms. For me, it was terror when I thought of the labor, the pain, the fact that my body would never be the same again, that I was going to be someone’s mom, that I was giving up the life I loved…’ Sara confided.

Neal turned to face her. ‘Aww, baby. I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be sorry. It’s just the way it is, Neal. There’s no way a man can experience what it’s like to be pregnant and to give birth. I think Diana just needs to be reassured that everything’s going to be all right and that life will go on after she gives birth to this baby. You know, her identity has been wrapped up in being a badass FBI agent for such a long time – it’s pretty scary to think you might lose that.’

‘Yeah, but nobody sees her as anything but the strong woman she is’ Neal argued.

‘ _She_ does, Neal. Being pregnant makes you vulnerable, it’s… giving up control of your body to some… invisible force. All of a sudden, you can’t see your feet anymore, you have terrible heartburn, your clothes don’t fit right and you start to think you’ll be stuck like that for the rest of your life.’

Neal listened, trying to understand – at least rationally.

‘Diana’s been an FBI agent for a long time, she gets gratification and validation from the work she does and now all of a sudden, it’s not about her anymore, it’s about this protruding stomach of hers that might as well have its own zip code.’

She was making an awful lot of sense. ’You’re amazing, you know that’ Neal said as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips.

‘I _do_ know, actually’ she said as her eyes suddenly narrowed.

‘Oh, and did you really think I wouldn’t ask Diana what play they were going to tomorrow night?’ she asked as she glared at him.

Neal frowned. He’d been found out. ‘I really want to go to that poker game’ he said, fluttering his eyelids.

‘That’s not going to do it, Caffrey’ Sara said, in response. ‘Who do you think you are, George Clooney?’

Neal’s face dropped. ‘All right, well, what’s it going to take then?’

‘Foot massages every night for the next week. You’re on bath duty until the middle of next week and you take Hope to her dentist appointment on Tuesday’ she said with assurance. ‘Oh, and you do the grocery shopping next Saturday – without complaining.’

Neal stared back – she sure did drive a hard bargain.

‘Fine’ he said, defeated.

‘Now, there’s one more thing’ she cooed as she took his hand in hers and gave him an adoring look.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

On Sunday morning, Neal sat at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper while his lucky wife lounged in bed upstairs. Sara had managed to negotiate two extra ‘sleep ins’ in exchange for Neal’s little outing the previous night and as far as he was concerned, it had been well worth it. He’d had a blast playing Texas Hold ‘Em with the guys and he’d crawled home shortly after three in the morning with an extra couple of hundred bucks in his pocket and a satisfied smile on his face.

Sweet vindication.

Playing poker with the guys from the White Collar Unit was a great way to stay in touch with the men he’d worked alongside during his tenure at the Bureau.Now that he worked at Finch and Johns, his visits to the Federal Building were nowhere near as regular and frankly, he missed the camaraderie, the friendly ribbing and the constant bantering with Jones and the rest of the guys. Of course, whenever they played cards, Neal had to solemnly swear he was playing on the up and up and Jones still frisked him when he arrived to make sure he wasn’t hiding anything up his sleeve. It was all done in good fun but Neal couldn’t blame the men for being suspicious – after all, he’d run many a scam at the poker table over the years and some of the guys still eyed him with suspicion after all this time.

Neal glanced up from his newspaper to find Liam squeezing the hell out of the banana he’d been attempting to eat and Hope poking lazily at the scrambled eggs she’d requested for breakfast. This was pretty well the antithesis of what his life had once been, all those years ago. Champagne and caviar, fancy hotels, lucrative cons and the FBI constantly on his tail. At least now he didn’t cringe every time someone came to the door looking for him.

‘Liam! Hey buddy’ Neal called out as he reached for the mushy mess on Liam’s high chair. ‘In your mouth!’

Liam gave him a radiant smile, giggling loudly as he tapped repeatedly on his highchair, sending a blob of banana flying in the air and landing right on the tip of his dad’s nose as Neal chuckled in response.

‘Owww!’ Hope shouted from the other side of the table as she let her fork drop noisily on her plate.

‘What’s the matter?’ Neal asked, wiping his nose and turning his attention to her.

‘I think you left some eggshells in my eggs’ she complained as Neal stood to examine her plate.

He poked around the eggs, noticing a small rocklike object hidden at the bottom of her plate.

‘Look what I found!’ he exclaimed as Hope’s hand instantly went to her mouth, realizing the stubborn tooth was nowhere to be found.

‘Yay!’ she shouted as Liam frowned in response to her scream. Hope was instantly on her feet and she began running around the kitchen table, the tenacious tooth on the tip of her fingers as she held it up high in victory. Liam followed suit, giggling loudly, his mouth overflowing as a blob of lumpy banana fell to the floor with a loud plop.

Neal sat back with an amused grin on his face. The Palazzo Sasso? Who needed it?

WCWCWC

Neal grabbed for his wallet on the nightstand and took out a five-dollar bill.

‘Time for the tooth fairy to make an appearance’ he whispered to his wife as he skulked out of bed.

Sara looked up from her laptop, grabbing his arm to hold him back.‘Wait a minute. You better make that _six_ dollars.’

He frowned. Hope had lost a few teeth already and they had mutually agreed that five bucks was pretty good compensation for something that was going to happen anyway.

‘When I put her to bed and we put the tooth in its little pillow…’ Sara began ‘...she said this one had been a hard one to lose and that she deserved a lot more than five dollars.’

‘Your daughter is quite the little negotiator’ Neal commented as he sat on the edge of the bed and reached for his wallet a second time.

‘ _My_ daughter?’ Sara said with a scowl. ‘You’re the one who has a reputation for getting something for nothing.’

Neal gave her a look of exasperation and stood, preparing to leave on his mission. ‘Cute’ he murmured.

‘Oh, and she wrote a note to the tooth fairy – although she wouldn’t show me what she wrote’ Sara added as Neal smiled in response.

‘I’ll be right back’ he said, eyebrows raised in anticipation as he sprinted towards Hope’s room.

Channelling his cat burglar persona, Neal snuck into his daughter’s bedroom, finding her sound asleep and curled up on her side with the cute little pillow that held the tooth cradled lovingly in her hand. He watched for a moment, enjoying the sight of her so unusually quiet and he leaned in, slipping the item out of her hand without disturbing her sleep. Carefully, he withdrew the tooth with the note wrapped around it and deftly slipped the bill inside in its place. He leaned in and kissed his daughter’s forehead before tiptoeing out, without a sound.

He was giggling to himself when he reappeared, taking care to close the bedroom door behind him before he got back into bed with Sara.

‘I got it’ he said, excited, as he unwrapped the treasure, setting the tooth aside on the bedside table before carefully unfolding the piece of paper.

Sara was instantly at his side, jockeying for position so they could both have a good view of the note.Neal read out loud, his voice tentative, as he tried to decipher his daughter’s patchy penmanship.

_‘Deer tooth fairi,’_ he read aloud. _‘this tooth was very hard to get rid of. My dad said be pacient and my mom said keep tring so I did but it took a long time and it hurted a lot. It is worth a lot more than 5 dolars maybe 7 or 8 but you can decide. I know you will be fare. Your friend Hope Ellis-Caffrey. P.S. Thank you for the 5 dolars you left last time. I bawt a ring and a brasslet at the dolar store and a car for my baby bruther._

‘She is something else!’ Neal exclaimed as he read over the note a second time.

Sara giggled. Their daughter was such a neat kid. ‘So Caffrey, how much did you give her?’

Neal looked embarrassed but there was no point in lying. Sara would find out how generous he’d been first thing in the morning when Hope came running into their bedroom with her loot.

‘Ten dollars’ he admitted shyly.

‘Neal! Are you nuts? She’s going to expect that kind of money every time she loses a tooth’ she exclaimed.

‘Come on, babe, you’ve got to admit it was worth the extra five bucks just to get to read this note.’

Sara shrugged. ‘I suppose’ she said. ‘But you better start saving up, Liam’s going to have a mouthful of teeth any day now.’

WCWCWC

Monday rolled around, the last Monday of June, and the members of the Ellis-Caffrey family returned to their individual pursuits. Liam was dropped off at the sitter’s and Hope headed out to Ridgeway Elementary School for the last two days of classes before summer break. She was looking forward to spending the summer months with her best friend Olivia while her parents toiled at their respective jobs.

As was the case _every_ Monday morning, Sara Ellis was rallying the troops for their weekly staff meeting in the boardroom on the 38th floor of Sterling Bosch right around the time her husband was arriving at the Federal Plaza to meet his partner, Diana Berrigan.

Neal and Diana were about halfway through the list of banks they were scheduled to visit and after his late night chat with his wife, Neal was feeling a little more empathetic when it came to Diana’s recurrent outbursts. To be honest, Neal thought the world of Diana Berrigan. He loved her dry wit and her determination and he couldn’t help admiring her for all she’d accomplished in her short career. She’d been one of a very few women who’d managed to break the glass ceiling which continued to persist within the FBI and she never missed an opportunity to show her bosses that she was just as capable of successfully carrying out her job as any male agent on the roster.

Neal certainly wasn’t in any position to judge. He’d made countless mistakes in his young life and it was a miracle he’d managed to stay out of jail while he was on loan to the FBI. Thanks to Peter’s patience and, later on, to Sara’s influence, he’d avoided returning to the big house and he was eternally grateful to both of them for their presence in his life.

He sat up in Peter’s office, shooting the breeze while they waited for Diana to make an appearance.

‘So?’ Peter asked. ‘On a scale of one to ten, how’s it going?’

Neal took his feet off Peter’s desk, leaning forward in his chair. ‘Last week, I would have said it was off the charts but… we’ll see how today goes.’

Peter gave him a questioning look as Neal continued. ‘Sara helped me see a different side of things. It can’t be easy for Diana to be staring down the barrel of motherhood and knowing she has to leave all this behind.’

‘I suppose…’ Peter said. It was a credit to Diana’s outstanding skills that Peter never thought of her any differently than he thought of the men on his team but he was fully aware that Diana was having to fight the status quo every day of her life.

‘Is that for me?’ Peter asked as he reached for the paper bag Neal had placed on his desk; something in there smelled awfully good and he could feel his stomach rumbling.

‘Hands off!’ Neal warned as he picked it up and brought it protectively to his chest. ‘Those are for Diana –‘

‘What’s for Diana?’ came the familiar voice in the doorway.

‘Blueberry muffins and lemon cranberry scones – homemade’ Neal gloated as he stood to join her.

She gave him a luminous smile as she grabbed for the bag. ‘You’re learning, Caffrey, you’re learning!’

WCWCWC

By 10:30, Sara could tell she was beginning to lose her audience’s attention. The all too frequent yawns and persistent fidgeting were sure signs that members of her team were overdue to stretch their legs and she finally gave in, calling for a ten-minute break so everyone could get some coffee and move around. A few of them remained in their seats – the keeners, those who were always out to impress her and one of the investigators came up to talk to Sara, hoping for some advice on a particularly tricky recovery.

The woman was halfway through her question when it hit and it took everyone a moment to realize what was happening.

‘Everybody, under the table!’ Sara shouted.

WCWCWC

Mrs. Reynolds stood at the front of the class, holding the pile of tests snugly against her chest as she waited for her first-graders to settle down and take their places after recess. Hope was feeling optimistic that she’d done well on her test and she was anxious for the teacher to get on with it and give them their results. She had a frozen yogurt sundae riding on this and she’d been thinking non-stop about her choice of toppings, leaning towards adding some Reese’s peanut butter cups to the mix… that would be amazing….

‘Hope Caffrey!’ Mrs. Reynolds called out as Hope stood, eager to collect her test paper.

The young teacher heard the rumbling before she actually felt the tremor and suddenly she had dropped the pile of tests on the ground and was speaking loudly.

‘Children! Everybody under your desk! Now!’

WCWCWC

Diana observed with interest as the manager from the National Bank, a man aptly named Mr. Banks, tapped his foot impatiently and reached for something on his desk.

‘Mr. Caffrey’ he said, his voice curt. ‘This is all very interesting but you’re not telling me anything I haven’t already read in your comprehensive report.’

Neal glanced nervously in Diana’s direction; if ever there was a time to think fast, this was it but the man was already brandishing said report in his hands, waving it in front of Neal and Diana’s noses as he spoke.

‘Sir, we can’t emphasize enough that your access cards are – ‘ Neal began, hoping for the save.

‘… archaic!’ the man said, finishing Neal’s sentence. ‘Yes, you’ve made that abundantly clear on page 16 and again on… page 32 and in the conclusion… on page 58’ he said as he thumbed through Neal’s report.

He appeared touchy about the findings which he’d apparently deemed overly critical and to have to hear it all a second time didn’t seem to be sitting very well with him.

‘Agent Berrigan’ the man said, his voice bitter. ‘Thank you for this courtesy call but I can assure you, there was no need for the Bureau to send someone out. We’ve got it handled from here.’

‘Of course’ Diana said as she looked over at Neal with a scowl. ‘Thank you for your time.’

Neal could tell by the way she turned on her heels that he (and Peter) were busted and he braced himself for a proper tongue lashing as he followed Diana towards the elevator. Man, she could still move when she was mad.

‘Diana…’ he pleaded as she kept walking, undeterred.

‘Diana, I can explain’ he attempted a second time.

She’d already pressed the down button for the elevator and was tapping her foot impatiently as she looked up to see the numbers changing as the elevator made its way up to fifteenth floor to collect them.

‘Explain what, Caffrey? That you and Peter sent me on a wild goose chase so no one has to deal with the hysterical pregnant lady back at the office?’

‘It’s not what it looks like…’ Neal began before she cut him off again.

‘What it looks like is that you and Peter conveniently forgot to mention that these visits are totally useless and that the banks already have all the information they need in a report than I have never seen or HEARD OF’ she continued, on a right rant as passersby in the hallway walked past. ‘I’m pregnant Caffrey, NOT STUPID!’

Neal could see that his best option was to shut up and let her finish her tirade; nothing he could possibly say was going to make this better.

They heard the familiar ‘ding’ and the elevator doors opened as Diana strode in decisively with Neal following behind with his tail between his legs.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Peter’s worried gaze met Agent Clinton Jones’ wide eyes as the tremor hit full force. They’d been quietly chatting with the curator of the Morrison Museum in his office towards the back of the small building when the unmistakeable shaking started, immediately sending stacks of papers and sundry items tumbling off the man’s hitherto orderly desk. A loud noise was heard from the front of the gallery as a couple of paintings were dislodged from the safety of the walls and landed with a thud on the hard wood floor.

Peter grabbed onto the nearby desk to wait out the tremor, steadying himself with a wide stance while Jones, taken by surprise, fell back, landing unceremoniously on his backside between the desk and the chair where he’d been standing. The museum curator stared ahead in dismay, sitting in his desk chair, holding on to anything he could find as the rumbling continued ever louder.

‘What the hell…’ Peter muttered as the earthquake persisted, longer and more powerful than he’d ever experienced.

The men waited for the tremor to end as another thunderous noise was heard above their heads, probably something falling on the second floor above them and hitting the floor with a loud bang.

Peter Burke had lived his whole life in New York State, first as a youngster in a small town up north where his dad had worked in the logging industry and later, in his adult life in the various boroughs of New York City. He’d experienced many a tremor in his life - from the mild ‘ _was that an earthquake?_ ’ variety all the way to the ‘ _hang on to your hat!_ ’ kind which left no doubt as to what was going on. But through all those quakes over the years, he’d never experienced anything quite so raw and powerful as this and he wondered, fleetingly, where El was at the moment and if she was all right. Before he could formulate a clear thought on the matter, the shaking began to diminish and slowly relent just as quickly as it had begun and the three men stared at each other in disbelief.

‘That was a _good_ one’ Jones muttered as he got back to his feet and dusted himself off.

‘Everybody okay?’ Peter asked as he began to pick up some of the stuff that had fallen to the ground.

The man behind the desk nodded and stood. ‘Not sure about all our art, though’ he said as he headed for the front room to check things out.

WCWCWC

The sliding doors closed behind them and Neal moved towards the back of the elevator car, embarrassed to look Diana straight in the eye. She was right, it _was_ wrong of him and Peter to have treated her that way, no matter what the circumstances or their laudable reasons for doing so. They should have ‘cowboyed’ up and been honest with her right from the start. After all, it was the Bureau’s responsibility to see to their agents’ safety and Peter had every right to assign his best agent to the case he deemed appropriate to her current situation.

Neal was relieved to find that he and Diana were alone in the elevator. He had a feeling she hadn’t quite finished with her rant and he didn’t relish having an audience for part two of Diana’s little hissy fit. He stood at the back, bracing himself for what was to come and trying to find the words to assuage his partner’s anger - although he couldn’t think of anything at the moment that would help calm her down.

‘And besides…’ Diana continued, without bothering to take a breath. ‘…what gives you the right to decide what I’m capable or incapable of doing…’ she shouted as Neal stared down at the ground, momentarily too flustered to look directly at her.

Neal’s eyes wandered up to look at her and Diana stopped, mid-sentence, and let out a groan, reaching for her stomach and massaging it as she spoke. She was hopping mad and for some reason, the baby was making its presence known by choosing this moment in time to land a decisive kick directly to her full bladder.

Neal took advantage of the momentary lull in Diana’s tirade to speak up.

‘Diana… I’m really sorry - ’ he began just as the elevator came to an abrupt halt, immediately followed by an unexpected and dramatic drop, sending both Neal and Diana flying - Neal straight on his keister and Diana up against the back wall where she managed to make a last second grab for the handrail to keep from falling over.

The sudden plunge was immediately followed by total darkness for a few short seconds as both Neal and Diana responded with a loud gasp. They barely had time to react; before they could utter a single word, an emergency back up light came on, bathing them in a warm light as the elevator stood perfectly still, its sudden descent halted, at least momentarily, by forces unknown. 

Diana looked down to find Neal sitting there, stunned, and she froze, hand on her belly as if doing so would keep her upright.

‘What the hell…’ she muttered as she spotted Neal sitting there, rubbing his head.

She felt something run down the length of her leg and she gasped in horror as Neal finally made it back to his feet. Great! Now, she’d totally humiliated herself by peeing herself in front of Caffrey, right in the middle of chewing him out.

‘Are you all right?’ Neal asked, reacting to the look of horror on Diana’s face.

‘What the hell just happened?’ Diana said, hand still on her belly.

Neal turned to check out the control panel, noticing the indicator light for the ground floor button was out and pushing it again, without success. He proceeded to push on all the floors’ buttons, hoping to get the elevator moving again and he noticed with concern that the indicator light up above their heads was also dark. The last time he’d glanced up at it, seconds before, they were somewhere between the 9th and 10th floor but now, it was anyone’s guess how far down the elevator had dropped before its sudden stop.

He reached for the alarm button, unsure if there was anyone on the other end to receive their distress signal and he turned to look at Diana’s face which had gone from thoroughly pissed off to as pale as a sheet.

‘Diana?’ he asked, concerned. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘I don’t know, Caffrey…’ Diana moaned as she doubled over in pain, noticing the puddle at her feet and realizing, in horror, that it wasn’t her bladder she should have been worried about.

‘I think my water just broke!’

WCWCWC

Sara Ellis reached over to check the land line in the conference room as calm gradually returned to the offices of Sterling Bosch. Everyone had the same look of consternation on their faces as they glared down at their totally useless cell phones - no doubt the system was overtaxed due to the tremor and it would take a few minutes to re-establish contact.

That had been one nasty quake, made worse by the fact that they were all trapped on the 38th floor of a high rise in downtown Manhattan as the building swayed uncontrollably under their feet.

‘All right everyone’ Sara said, with authority. ‘The land line is working if you need to use the phone, I suggest you go back to your office. We’ll reconvene after lunch.’

She took her own advice and headed back to her office seven floors below, opting for the stairs in case of severe aftershocks - everyone knew you didn’t want to be stuck in an elevator during an earthquake. Her thoughts immediately went to Neal and the kids. Neal was an adult, capable of taking care of himself but she wanted to make sure Hope and Liam were safe and the minute she arrived in her office, she dialled out to call Fran, their sitter, to make sure everything was okay.

‘We’re all fine’ the woman reassured them. ‘We were out playing in the backyard when it happened and the kids didn’t even know what hit them. Liam was in his stroller sleeping; he didn’t even budge.’

Sara let out a sigh of relief and thanked the sitter before hanging up. Getting through to Ridgeway Elementary School to check on Hope, however, was another matter. The lines were jammed and Sara gave up after a few tries and tried to concentrate on picking up the items that the tremor had dislodged from their regular spots, including a plant she kept on her window sill which had been knocked to the ground, making a lovely mess on the carpeting.

It took several tries but she finally got through to the school, the secretary’s shaky voice answering on the other end.

‘Hi Mrs. Caffrey’ the woman said. ‘Everyone _seems_ fine; a couple of the kids took a tumble and we’ve got a few bumps and bruises but Mrs. Miller is still assessing the damage.’

That was a little short of what Sara had hoped to hear but she remained calm all the same. Chances were Hope was just fine.

‘If there’s any problem with my daughter, could you please call my office. Our cell phones seem to be out’ she explained as the woman rang off.

Sara gave Neal’s number a try but her call went straight to voice mail, no surprise really, considering the circumstances. She returned to the job of cleaning up and was just about done when the phone rang again and Sara cringed at the number on her call display.

‘Mrs. Caffrey, It’s Joyce Miller at Ridgeway’ said the principal. ‘Hope’s got a nasty cut on her forehead. Can you come by and pick her up? I think she might need a couple of stitches’ the woman said as Sara stood at attention.

She began collecting her things, her heart thumping in her chest. She remembered her cell phone service was out and reached for the landline, intent on leaving a message for Neal. 

‘Honey, it’s me’ she said at the prompt. ‘I hope you’re okay. I’m headed back to White Plains. The school called. Hope hit her head when the earthquake hit and I’m going to have her checked out at WPG. Meet me there when you get this message’ she said before hanging up.

As fast as her legs would carry her, Sara was out of the office and into a cab.

WCWCWC

Now as far as declarations went, the one just uttered by Diana was probably one of the scariest things Neal had ever heard.

‘Caffrey? Say something…’ she said, her voice trembling as she stood there, paralyzed, staring at the puddle at her feet.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay’ Neal said, trying to sound confident despite the fact his hands were shaking and his head was spinning. ‘Everything’s going to be all right, Diana…’ he lied. ‘Just breathe…’

‘But… oh my God’ she said as a contraction hit her, forcing her to bend over.

‘Diana!’ Neal said with alarm, taking her arm to support her. ‘Come on, sit down for a minute.We’ll figure this out.’

Diana leaned on him and she let herself slide down the wall until she was sitting upright, hands still clutching her belly.

Neal’s mind was reeling as he tried to figure out what to do next. Diana was in no fit state to take control of the situation. He crouched down in front of her, his hands firmly on her arms as he tried to get a look into her eyes which were firmly closed at the moment as she moaned through her contraction. He leaned over, trying the emergency button once more and watching with concern as it lay silent. Maybe the alarm rang somewhere in the building and someone would come looking - in just a minute. A guy could hope.

He pulled out his phone and stared down at it, noticing with dismay that there was no service available. Whatever had just happened had somehow affected cell service - a power outage? some technical glitch? an earthquake?

His eyes returned to Diana, who was grunting through the last of her contraction and his mind went back to the only two visits he’d ever made to a delivery room. How long after your water broke did you actually give birth he wondered as panic began to set in. He thought back to Hope’s birth over six years earlier. It had been _hours_ after Sara’s water broke before she was born… but with Liam, well, it had gone a lot faster - a couple of hours at most.

No, no, no, no, no. There was no way this was happening. Not here. Not on his watch. He stood again and attempted to hit all the buttons on the console including the emergency button as panic began to set in.

‘Hello!’ he called out, his voice just barely on this side of panicked. ‘Is there anybody out there?'

‘Oh, my God, this can’t be happening!’ Diana screamed

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Dr. Christie Cooper glanced into the overflowing waiting room of Bellevue Hospital where she toiled an average of 60 to 70 hours a week, every single week.As an attending physician in the hospital’s emergency room, she was responsible for the health care of hundreds of patients who turned up unannounced on a daily basis looking for relief for an infinite variety of ailments. Working as an emergency room doctor was anything but routine and Christie loved the variety - on any given day, she had no idea who she’d be seeing and what type of care she’d be called on to provide.

The aftermath of the 5.2 earthquake which had rocked the whole eastern seaboard had yielded a variety of minor injuries, similar to what one might expect on a particularly icy winter day in New York City - mostly bumps and bruises and a few broken bones. Some of the injuries, however, had been more serious - like the thirty-seven-year-old man she’d just seen who had tumbled off a third story scaffolding while washing windows in the East Village. He was damn lucky he hadn’t been up any higher when the quake hit. He’d fallen to the street below, causing him to suffer a serious concussion and a couple of broken bones.

Christie spotted a pregnant woman sitting in the waiting room and her thoughts turned to Diana. As the days went by, Christie was becoming increasingly anxious about seeing her girlfriend off in the morning and she couldn’t wait for her to finally be off work and start her maternity leave. When they’d discussed which one of them would carry the baby, the decision had seemed like a no-brainer. Diana had excellent health coverage at work as well as maternity leave benefits whereas Christie was still fighting to establish herself in the hospital hierarchy after a few short years there. There was a sadness associated with being on the outside looking in and although Diana had shared every moment of her pregnancy experience with her partner, Christie still felt the odd twinge of sadness at not having had the privilege of carrying the baby for the past eight and a half months.

Christie glanced down at her phone; still no word from Diana. Cell phone communication had been patchy since the quake hit; maybe service hadn’t resumed yet in the area where Diana was working, she mused, trying to shake the uneasy feeling she’d had since the tremor hit. At least Diana wasn't alone. Neal was with her and Christie trusted him implicitly to keep her girlfriend safe.

‘Dr. Cooper’ one of the staff called out as she handed her a file. ‘Broken arm in room 22.’

WCWCWC

Peter and Jones finished up with the curator of the Morrison Gallery, thanking him for his cooperation and reassuring him that they would keep an eye out for the three paintings which had mysteriously disappeared from their premises the previous week. As always, Peter had to walk that fine line between being cautiously optimistic about a potential recovery and the stark reality that most stolen art was _never_ recovered. The Bureau would put the word out on the street that they were looking for the stolen items but all too often, art was taken out of state or in some cases, out of the country within hours of being stolen and the items never resurfaced, disappearing into the private collection of some privileged wannabe who had the means to buy it on the black market.

They were headed for the car when his cell phone rang and he realized that service had resumed after a thirty minute interruption.

‘Burke’ he answered curtly.

‘Peter, it’s Sara’ came the response.

‘Sara? Are you all right?’ he asked, surprised to get her call.

‘Yes, I’m fine’ she answered. ‘You?’

‘Yeah, I’m okay. That was a hell of a tremor, wasn't it?’

Sara sighed at the other end. ‘Are you at the office?’

‘No, Jones and I are just coming out of a meeting at one of the local galleries’ Peter explained.

‘Try being atop a high rise building and feel it swaying under your feet’ Sara said with a nervous giggle.

‘I can imagine’ Peter said as he took a seat behind the wheel.

‘Peter, I’m trying to find Neal. Have you heard from him in the last little while?’ she asked.

‘Not since early this morning’ Peter answered as he checked his watch, noting it was getting close to lunchtime. ‘He and Diana were visiting the National Bank in Midtown this morning but I figure they would have wrapped up by now. What’s up?’

Sara hesitated for a moment. Hope was Peter’s pride and joy and she didn't want to alarm him needlessly.

‘It’s just that… well, Hope fell at school during the tremor and she hit her head. I’m on my way to pick her up at school to have her checked out.’

‘What?’ Peter said with alarm as Jones looked up to see what all the fuss was about.

‘Peter, she’s going to be fine but I’m trying to reach Neal and so far, I haven't had any luck.’

‘Cell service is still hit and miss’ Peter said as he regained his cool. ‘Do you want _me_ to meet you at the hospital?’

‘No… no, of course not. Just keep trying to get Neal on the phone for me, will you? I’m taking her over to White Plains General.’

‘Sure, of course’ Peter said with a frown. ‘Call if you change your mind, I can be there in no time.’

‘Thanks Peter’ Sara said.

‘Oh, and Sara. Could you call and let me know how she is once she’s seen the doctor?’ Peter asked, soliciting a knowing smile from Sara Ellis. 

‘Will do, Peter’ she said before hanging up.

WCWCWC

Diana regained some of her composure as her contraction ended. She sat alongside Neal on the floor of the elevator, suspended somewhere between the first and fifteenth floors of the National Bank Building in downtown Manhattan.

‘What do you suppose it was? An earthquake?’ she asked as she rubbed her baby bump absentmindedly.

‘That would be my guess’ Neal answered, staring down at his unresponsive phone. ‘But regardless, we probably wouldn't be able to get cell phone service in here anyway.’

They’d been sitting side by side for about three minutes, catching their breath and discussing the best course of action to take. Neal’s calls for help had gone unanswered and the emergency button seemed to be out of commission or, if you were skeptical, as Neal was, it had been put there for its placebo effect - some idea of a sick joke to reassure nervous elevator travellers.

‘Don’t worry. They’ll find us’ Neal said with as much bravado as he could muster. ‘How are you feeling, now?’

Diana shrugged. ‘All right, I guess… I just haven't had contractions quite this strong before.’

Neither one of them dared mention, as they both knew all too well, that once your water broke, you were officially in labour. Neal hoped that time would be on their side and that they would be rescued well before active labour began. Unbeknownst to him, Diana was praying for the same thing.

They hadn't heard any sounds coming from the other side of the elevator doors which meant one of two things, either, they were between floors or most of the occupants had evacuated the building. Either way, someone would eventually come looking for them and for the time being, they just needed to remain calm while they waited for help to arrive.

Neal handed Diana the bottle of water he’d been carrying around with him. ‘Here, have a sip’ he said. ‘It’s important you stay hydrated.’

She gave him a gentle smile. For all his faults, Neal was one of the most thoughtful men she knew.

‘Thanks Caffrey’ she said as she took a long sip of cool water. ‘Look, I’m sorry I yelled at you before.’

He shook his head. ‘You had _every_ right. Peter should have come clean with you… and I should never have gone along with this stupid scheme.’ he admitted woefully.

‘I know you guys are just worried about me and I appreciate it but… you don’t have a clue what it’s like to suddenly not be able to do everything you’ve always taken for granted.’

‘You’re right’ Neal said for the second time. ‘I don’t. When Sara was pregnant with Hope and Liam, all I could do was hover… and worry about her. I don’t have the first clue about what it feels like for a woman to be expecting and I can only imagine how difficult it must be to give up some of your autonomy and control over your bodily functions.’

They both stared down at the wet spot on the floor which they had carefully been avoiding and they laughed softly.

‘So what was it like?’ Diana asked as her eyes met Neal’s.

‘What? The births?’ he asked as she nodded.

‘For Hope, Sara was in labor for almost twelve hours. It was brutal… and you know Sara. She was frustrated and impatient for it to be over. With Liam, it was a lot faster. We got to the hospital just before midnight on a Saturday night and he was born a couple of hours later.’

Diana couldn't help but notice the wistful smile on Neal’s lips as he spoke. He was an amazing father and he would be a wonderful uncle to their baby, just as Peter would. 

‘I guess it’s not easy for the other parent, huh?’ she asked as she thought of Christie and how much she worried about her.

‘You just feel so… useless’ Neal explained. ‘You see the person you love in pain and there’s absolutely nothing you can do but hold their hand.It’s…’

‘Humbling?’ Diana volunteered.

‘Well, I was going to say, frustrating as all hell’ Neal replied as Diana let out a nervous laugh.

Suddenly, she felt another contraction building and she let out a yelp as Neal’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘Owww!’ Diana screamed as it took hold of her, without pity.

Neal’s instinctively reached for her hand, feeling her squeeze with all her might as the contraction intensified.

‘It’s gonna be okay, Diana. Just breathe, just breathe’ he instructed as he watched her face contort and her breathing accelerate.

Diana began to moan as she rocked back and forth and her hand slipped out of Neal’s as he watched in dismay, feeling totally helpless. He looked around the elevator car, frustrated at the thought that he couldn't get them out of this mess.

He sat next to her, trying to keep her spirits up through the minute long contraction, mumbling what he considered to be platitudes, considering the situation.

‘Keep breathing’ he said as he awkwardly brought his hand to her back in support.

‘Just shut up, Caffrey’ she screamed in response.

WCWCWC

‘Mommy!’ Hope called out as Sara arrived in the school office where the injured children were waiting for their parents to arrive.

‘Oh, honey!’ Sara exclaimed. Her lingering worry dissolved at the sight of the smile on her daughter’s face. ‘Are you all right?’

Hope nodded enthusiastically, not exactly the reaction Sara had been anticipating. The child held a piece of paper in her hands, waving it madly.

’Mommy, guess what? I got a B!’ Hope exclaimed as Sara frowned in response. ‘Can we call Daddy and tell him?’

‘Hope!’ Sara said, as she ran her hand through her wild mane of hair and spotted the tell-tale dried blood on her forehead. ‘Baby, you hurt yourself.’

Hope seemed intent on having her moment of glory, despite the throbbing headache. ‘Mrs. Reynolds dropped the tests on the floor when the earthquake came’ she explained, her face excited. ‘And I saw mine on top and there was a B on it so… I picked it up. Then a stapler fell on my head.’

‘A stapler?’ Sara repeated, suddenly amused.

Hope nodded and gave her mom a smile. ‘Daddy said he would take me out for frozen yogurt if I did good on my test…’

‘You mean if you did _well’?_ Sara corrected as Hope nodded.

‘Sure, we can try calling Daddy when we get to the car. Come on honey, we need to have your head looked at by the doctor.’ Sara said as she took her daughter’s hand.

‘Mommy, do you think I can have peanut butter cups on my frozen yogurt?’ she asked, her injury already forgotten.

‘I’m sure that can be arranged’ Sara replied with a laugh.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

It had been quiet for a few minutes with both Neal and Diana momentarily lost in thought. Neal glanced over at the mom-to-be, noticing her eyes were closed; maybe she was having a short power nap between contractions - certainly a well deserved rest.

But, to his surprise, she spoke, letting out a huge sigh. ‘Caffrey?’ she said, her voice rough.

‘Yeah’ Neal answered, just as quietly.

‘I’m scared’ she said as her voice faltered.

Neal turned to face her and instinctively, his arm came up to wrap around her shoulder. He was half expecting her to shove him away but in an uncharacteristic show of vulnerability, the likes of which he’d never seen since he’d first met the woman, she let her head drop on his shoulder.

‘Don’t be scared. You’re not alone. I’m here’ he said as he heard her whimper.

‘Neal, I don’t want to have my baby here’ she cried. ‘I want Christie…’

‘I know you do’ Neal answered simply as he hugged her close.

‘Why is it taking so long for them to find us?’ she murmured, sounding totally defeated.

‘I don’t know’ Neal answered truthfully.

This was no time for deflection. Diana deserved the truth.

‘But we can’t give up, okay. Peter will come looking for us if we don’t show up. He’s expecting us back at the office at four.’

She pulled away from him as the fan came on again, filling the stale air with cooler air. Thankfully, whatever was powering the light above their heads was also supplying them with recirculated air every few minutes.

‘Oh shit’ she cried out as Neal checked his watch to time the new contraction. They were coming every five to eight minutes without fail.

Without warning, Diana got up on all fours and began to pant as Neal followed suit, getting up on his knees to massage her back as she moaned through the worst of it.

‘You’re doing great Diana. Don’t give up’ he said, his advice sounding hollow in the trying circumstances.

The contractions were getting more violent and longer and Neal started to think ahead to the next few minutes, or heaven forbid, hours.Anytime soon, she was going to say she needed to push and Neal wasn’t sure how he would cope if and when that happened. He had limited experience in childbirth; his role had been limited to cheerleader and loving partner when Sara had given birth to their babies. He would be called upon to play a much more active role if help didn't get there soon and to say he was feeling uncomfortable about what that role might be was the understatement of the century.

His mind and eyes turned to Diana; she hadn't asked for this and the least he could do was to be there for her every step of the way until she could be reunited with Christie. Diana began to catch her breath and she fell back to a sitting position as she tried to recuperate from that last intense contraction.

Neal grabbed for his jacket which he’d discarded over an hour before and he rolled it up into a makeshift pillow, setting it on his lap as he took Diana by the shoulders.

‘Why don’t you lie down for a minute, try to get your strength back’ he suggested as she let herself fall, head in his lap, eyes closing.

Neal took a deep breath and eyed the trap door at the top of the elevator. He’d seen loads of movies where the hero climbed out there and saved the day. Maybe, today, he was that hero.

WCWCWC

‘You’ve been a very brave girl’ the nurse said as she handed Hope a colouring book and a small pack of crayons.

‘Thank you’ Hope answered politely as Sara looked on.

It had been a minor cut and she’d only needed a couple of stitches in the end but the freezing had been unpleasant and Hope had been a trouper as she’d held on tight to her math test for courage.

Sara glanced at her watch. It was going on two o’clock and everybody else’s cell phone seemed to be functional. How come she still hadn't heard from Neal? Surely, he would have heard her message by now and knowing him as she did, she’d expected him to come running through the hospital ER doors the moment he heard that his precious little girl had been injured. Something was definitely not right and she bit her lip, waiting patiently for Hope to be released so she could try her luck at reaching him again.

‘I’m just going to get you some written instructions for care and I’ll be right back’ the nurse told Sara as she stepped out.

Hope was instantly in her mom’s arms, curling up into a little ball.

‘Mommy, that hurt’ she complained.

‘I know sweetie but you’ve been very, very brave. Wait until we tell Daddy what a brave girl you’ve been’ Sara said as she hugged her daughter tight.

Her thoughts returned to her husband - Neal, where the hell are you?

WCWCWC

‘Agent Burke, I’ve got the Dominion Bank on the line for you’ said one of the probies as he popped his head into Peter’s office.

Peter frowned as he picked up the phone. ‘Peter Burke’ he said in greeting.

‘Agent Burke, this is Jim Grayson over at the Dominion Bank. I was expecting Agent Berrigan and Mr. Caffrey at 2:00 but they haven’t shown up yet. Is there some sort of problem?’ the man asked.

Peter glanced at his watch - 2:35 - and his frown deepened.

‘Sorry about that’ Peter replied. ‘Let me find out what happened. We’ll be in touch to reschedule.’

He could feel his phone vibrating in his jacket pocket and dropped his office phone to answer it.

Now that he'd been in touch with Elizabeth and been assured that everything was fine at home, his thoughts turned to Neal and Diana who should have been in touch if they were veering from the schedule.

‘Peter, it’s Christie’ came the voice on the other end. ‘Have you heard from Diana since this morning. She’s still not answering her phone.’

‘No, I haven’t but I was just about to try to track them down. Give me a few minutes and I’ll get back to you’ he answered as he prepared to log a call.

His phone vibrated in his hand as he prepared to dial - Sara this time with the same questions. Something was definitely not right and Peter was going to find out what the hell was going on.

WCWCWC

‘So, how come you didn't want to know the sex of the baby?’ Neal asked as he sat across from Diana, munching on a cranberry scone.

‘I don’t know’ Diana responded as she took a sip of water. ‘I guess we both liked the idea of having a surprise. Did you know for both your kids?’

‘We did’ Neal volunteered. ‘I think with Hope, Sara just wanted me to stop calling the baby Booboo and she thought there was a better chance of that if I knew whether the baby was a boy or a girl. I really wanted a girl the first time… not sure why…’ Neal added wistfully.

They were enjoying the rare lull between contractions as Diana tried to make herself comfortable any way she possibly could.

‘So, do you have any names in mind?’ he asked.

Diana took a deep breath and for a moment, Neal braced for the next contraction but Diana just stretched out her legs and gave him a sweet smile.

‘Christie likes Anthony for a boy - it was her dad’s name. He died last year of cancer’ she said as Neal leaned in to listen. ‘Personally, I’m partial to Colton’ she added.

‘That was on our shortlist when Liam was born’ Neal said but Sara thought, ‘Colton Caffrey‘, you know, it sounded a bit harsh. What about for a girl?’

The mood changed instantly as another wave of pain hit and Diana’s posture changed completely from relaxed to totally tense. Neal dropped the scone from his hand and prepared to help her through the next minute and a half.

WCWCWC

‘What do you mean, there’s nobody there? It’s the middle of the goddamn afternoon on a Monday.’ Peter growled at the young man on the other end of the line.

He had finally gotten a live person to talk to at the National Bank as he tried to retrace Neal and Diana’s steps starting with their visit there that morning. Unfortunately, the voice belonged to the attendant at the building’s reception desk and he sounded like he was all of fifteen years old.

‘Well, the bank is still open for business on the first floor but the employees have all been sent home because they couldn't get the power back on. Some of the bigwigs are here, though, up on the 15th floor’ the young man said.

‘Well, then I need you to put me through to one of those bigwigs’ Peter said as he took a calming breath.

‘Which of the bigwigs did you want to speak to?’ asked the man, trying Peter’s patience.

He began rummaging through the mountain of paperwork on his desk, searching for the list of visits he, himself, had set up for his little con.

‘Hum, Mr. Banks’ he finally said with a frown. Really? The bank manager’s name was Mr. Banks? What was his first name? Buck?

‘Yes sir’ the young man finally said as he put him through.

WCWCWC

Neal had been staring at the escape hatch at the top of the elevator for the past half hour, wondering if any good could come of him getting up there to investigate. He might be able to find out what floor they were on and if they were between floors he might be able to get to the door and alert whoever might be on the other side of their presence in the elevator car. He’d been hesitating to act, not wanting to upset Diana or leave her on her own, even for a few minutes, when she kept having contractions every few minutes.

‘Diana’ he finally said, his voice tentative. ‘I was thinking maybe I could climb up to that hatch and see what I can find out.’

Diana looked up. The hatch was at least nine to ten feet off the ground making the small escape route look mighty far up.

‘I don’t know Caffrey’ she moaned, rubbing her stomach. ‘What good would that do?’

‘Well, if we’re between floors, I might be able to reach the door and bang on it so they could hear us.’

Regardless of the vulnerable situation she was in, she was still the agent in charge and Neal was a civilian. What if something happened to him while he was investigating? What if he fell down the shaft or electrocuted himself or something?

She moaned as another contraction hit and Neal made himself useful, the best way he could.

The moment she came out of it, he stood and began moving around the elevator, seeing if he could figure out a way to get up there. He certainly couldn't count on Diana for a push, not in her condition. He tugged on the handrail which was located at waist level all around the elevator to see if it would hold his weight and he began to see what he could possibly grab a hold of to pull himself up. The last thing he wanted was to lose his grip and come tumbling down on top of his very pregnant partner.

Diana’s eyes widened at the sight of him trying to figure something out. Neal Caffrey was a very resourceful guy but he was also very impulsive and he didn't always think things through as she well knew from years of working with the ex-con. She sure as hell didn't want him injured and selfishly, she had to admit that she was counting on him to see her through the next little while.

She watched as he managed to get his foot up on the handrail and grab the edge of the wood panel, pulling himself up in an effort to get his second foot up there alongside the first. The effort wasn't negligible and she could hear him grunt as he struggled to get upright.

‘Be careful Caffrey’ she couldn't help but mutter as his uneven breathing was heard echoing in the small space.

‘Piece of cake’ she heard him say in that fearless Neal Caffrey voice.

He stood upright on the handrail as he reached for the door to the hatch, the handle an easy twist and turn contraption that yielded to his touch. The door came crashing open into the car as some debris came tumbling down, narrowly missing the spot where Diana sat, hyperventilating.

‘You okay?’ Neal called out as he stared upwards, nervous to look down.

‘Yeah’ he heard Diana moan.

‘I can see all the way up’ he said as his hands reached for the outside of the open trap door, trying in vain to get a good grasp.

He managed to get a good strong hold and began to walk along the handrail to the spot which would give him the best angle for pulling himself up and out. His upper body strength was above average, thanks to all those chin ups he did at the gym, but he wondered if he had what it took to pull all one hundred and seventy-five pounds of his body weight up through the small hole. He decided he didn't have a choice and with a loud groan, he pushed his weight off his feet and grabbed on to the outside of the elevator car, pulling himself up with all the strength he could muster.

The first shove got him through up to his waist and Diana watched from below as his legs dangled precariously above her head, her breathing starting to quicken in response to the next wave of excruciating pain.

Neal’s legs began to move as he pulled himself out the other side and she let out a loud grunt as the next contraction hit.

‘Argh’ she screamed as Neal finally pulled his body onto the top of the elevator, laying flat on his stomach as he got his bearings.

‘You all right, Diana?’ he called from up above as he heard her grunting.

‘Just another day at the office’ she called back between grunts as Neal’s face appeared above her head, looking down at her with a grin.

‘Show off’ she screamed, in pain. ‘What do you see up there?’

She’d barely gotten the question out when she heard a loud thud up above as Neal let out a loud shriek.

‘CAFFREY!’ she screamed.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

‘Peter?’ Jones said as he poked his head into his boss’ office. ‘Paulson said you wanted to see me?’

Peter looked up, eyes narrowing as he faced his senior agent. ‘You haven’t heard from Diana or Caffrey today, have you?’ he asked.

‘No. I thought they still had visits to make’ Jones replied.

‘They do… they did but I just got a call from the Dominion Bank. They were a no-show for their 2:00 appointment.’

Jones stared ahead, face blank. He could see the concern in Peter’s eyes. ‘What? You think something happened to them?’

‘I don’t know’ Peter said, standing and grabbing for his jacket. ‘With the earthquake and all… I think we should check out the National Bank. They haven’t been seen since they left their meeting there at about 10:30 this morning.’

‘Do you want me to gather a couple of men?’ Jones asked.

He could see the wheels turning in Peter’s mind. ‘No. Let’s you and I check it out first. See if we can find out anything.’

WCWCWC

Sara Ellis was only slightly surprised to find Mozzie’s old beat up van sitting in their driveway when she pulled up beside it. Somehow, he’d begun to use their home as one of his safe houses as of late and, on a couple of occasions, she’d found him hanging out at their kitchen table, even when the whole family was out. It was cheaper than an alarm system - although they needed to keep their wine cabinet fully stocked at all times.

‘Uncle Mozzie!’ Hope shouted with glee as she and her mom stepped in the front door.

‘Hope!’ he called out as she came into view.

‘Did you feel the earthquake?’ she asked as she ran into his open arms.

‘I did… that’s why I came over… to make sure everything was okay’ he fibbed as his eyes met Sara’s, noting the skepticism there.

‘Hey Mozzie’ she called out. ‘You wanted to make sure our wine collection was safe and sound?’ she added, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she spied the glass of Pinot in his hands.

He chose to ignore the callous remark and instead, he brought his hand to the bandage that was apparent on Hope’s forehead.

‘What happened to you, munchkin?’ he asked as she smiled broadly.

‘A stapler hit me!’ she announced proudly. ‘And I got a B on my math test’ she added, spreading the now crumpled test paper on the kitchen table for him to see.

Sara headed over to the refrigerator to grab some juice for her and her daughter and turned to face Mozzie.

‘Mozzie, have you heard from Neal today?’ she asked as Hope settled on her uncle’s lap.

‘No. Why?’

‘No reason. I’ve just been having trouble getting him on the phone all day’ she said, sounding worried.

‘Well, cell phone service was disrupted because of the earthquake’ Mozzie said, by way of explanation.

‘I know but that was hours ago and everything should be back to normal by now‘ she mused as she sat and poured Hope a drink.

‘Have you tried the Suit?’ he asked as Hope giggled. She never did understand why her uncle Mozzie always called her uncle Peter ‘the Suit’.

‘Yeah… he’s looking into it but… I just have this strange feeling something’s not right’ she said as she stood and grabbed her purse. ‘I think I’ll take a drive over there - would you be able to stay with Hope?’ she asked.

‘Sure. What about Liam?’ Mozzie asked.

‘He’s still at the sitters’ Sara said as she made her way to kiss Hope’s forehead. ‘If I’m not back by 4:30, could you pick him up?’

‘Sure’ Mozzie said as Hope cheered. ‘Just leave the car seat by the door for me.’

The minute Sara was out of view, Hope’s face lit up. Whenever Mozzie was left in charge, it was always fun and games.

‘Uncle Mozzie, could we have pizza for dinner if Mommy’s not back?’

Mozzie walked over to the sink and with regret, dumped the last of the wine down the drain. He gave her a wink and a nod. ‘It’ll be our little secret.’

WCWCWC

‘CAFFREY!’ Diana screamed again as Neal’s face reappeared in the open trap door above her head.

‘I’m right here’ he said, breathlessly. ‘Sorry, I got my foot caught on something and my shoe came off and fell all the way down the shaft.’

‘God! You scared me!’ Diana said as she tried to catch her breath. ‘What’s going on up there?’

Neal crawled over to the edge of the platform, falling onto his stomach and letting his head hang over the edge as he glanced longingly at the open space beneath them, trying to see his left shoe, which regrettably, was long gone. Those were great shoes, he mused, Balmoral Oxfords, which had cost him more than he’d even dared admit to his wife.

He glanced around the space, noting the mechanics of the elevator, its complex system of cables and pulleys.

‘This is really neat’ Neal said, sounding like a curious four-year-old who’d just discovered the inside of the tv’s remote control.

‘Seriously Caffrey?’ Diana moaned from below.

‘You should see this. I can’t see all the way up but I can see the inside of the doors to the floors. We’re between the 4th and 5th floor’ he announced as she heard him move around above her head.

‘Caffrey, don’t do anything crazy’ Diana declared, realizing how what she’d just said was the epitome of redundancy. This was Neal Caffrey after all - and he specialized in doing things that were crazy.

‘I won’t’ she heard him say from further away.

Diana began to pant once again, holding her stomach and leaning over as the pain intensified. She could hear Neal talking but her mind just couldn't grasp the finer points of what he was saying.

Neal got to his feet and stood on top of the elevator car, exploring his new surroundings and noticing how the car itself was suspended by several large metal cables wires attached to a pulley system which ostensibly moved the elevator up and down. He noticed a balustrade around three of the sides, thankfully, as there was a good two to two and a half feet of space all round - plenty of space to kill yourself if you fell over and down the shaft. The side that didn’t have a safety rail, however, was the one that most interested him - the one where the opening to the floors was located.

He braced himself, making sure he had solid footing before taking a step towards the opening where the doors to the floors above and below them were located. There was a big 5 on the cement wall next to the doors and the platform where he was standing was about a third of the way up the bottom of the outer door itself.No wonder no one could hear them; the elevator car itself was practically dead centre between the two floors and there was cement right outside the inside of the elevator car making it sound proof.

Neal began to look around in the hopes of finding something he could use to bang against the door. If anyone was anywhere near the elevator bank on the 5th floor, they would surely hear him if he could only give the door a couple of good bangs. There wasn’t a whole lot he could use but he foraged around the top of the car, his tie hanging dangerously above a contraption as it caught momentarily and Neal disengaged it, his breath short as he pulled off his tie and stuck it in his pocket, out of harm’s way.

He leaned down the trap door to check on Diana once again.

‘You still okay down there?’ he called out.

‘Sure Caffrey, I’m just putting on the kettle so we can have a nice cup of tea’ Diana replied with her usual biting sarcasm.

Neal rolled his eyes; so much for being solicitous. He returned to the task at hand, standing once again to see how he could safely reach the door to the 5th floor elevator bank without falling down the shaft. He edged the length of the side balustrade, making his way as close as he could towards the door without losing his footing and falling down all the way to the basement - something even he realized was not ideal at this point. Being in an upright position was leaving him much too vulnerable to losing his footing and after a moment, he returned to his stomach, inching his way towards the door in an effort to reach it. 

‘Is there anybody out there?’ he called out at the top of his lungs as his voice reverberated in the hollow shaft.

‘Hello!’ he shouted. ‘Anybody?’ he repeated to complete and utter silence.

‘Where the hell is everybody?’ he muttered under his breath as he tried to think of some other way to communicate with the outside world. 

He stretched out his arms and managed to touch the door, trying to slip his fingers between the sealed doors; if he pulled hard, maybe he could actually jack it open and jump out to get some help. It took but a moment to realize that the strength needed to open the door required much better leverage than Neal was able to achieve, although he could feel the smallest ‘give’ when he used all of his strength to try to pull the doors apart.

He looked down the shaft. From his vantage point, hanging off the edge on his stomach, it was a hell of a long way down and he felt his heart skip a beat as he slipped back towards the centre a few inches in an attempt to steady himself. Maybe if he could get the doors open just enough to push something through them as an SOS signal. Anybody walking by on the 5th floor would surely be curious if they saw something hanging out between the closed doors of an elevator.

He could feel the sweat running down his back as his mind frantically searched for a solution. He suddenly remembered the necktie in his pocket. If he could squeeze the doors open just enough to stuff it in there… He pulled the apparel out of his pocket, glancing at it lovingly. It was his favourite Alexander McQueen micro-dot necktie, the one Sara had given him for his last birthday and he winced at the thought of using it so wantonly. It had already been through so much, he thought, as he recalled the morning Liam had unceremoniously peed on it as he'd changed his diaper. The dry cleaners had done a great job and they'd somehow managed to give it new life - now he might be damaging it irreparably, without the possibility of salvation…

Tucking the tie safely in his shirt cuff so he could use both his hands to work, he crawled back on his belly as far out as he dared to the edge of the platform without fear of falling down the elevator shaft. He took a deep breath and pulled again, with all his might, trying desperately to create an opening between the two doors, feeling the suction holding them glued together. He groaned as he gave another shove and watched in horror as his tie began to slip out of his shirt cuff, starting on its way down the endless pit, never to be seen again as it endeavoured to join his left shoe on the floor of the seemingly bottomless shaft.

Neal reached out in a last ditch effort to keep the necktie from falling to its death and with the very tip of his fingers, managed to grab the tie, his body hanging precariously over the edge of the platform. He let out a loud gasp and pulled his body away from the edge, feeling the safety of the top of the elevator car against his chest as he slinked back.

‘Holy shit!’ he muttered under his breath as he brought the tie to his chest.

He let out a long, faltering sigh and looked up at the doors again. Dammit, he wasn't giving up now - not when he was so close. He inched outwards again, the tie on the tip of his fingers as he gave it one last try. The doors gave way, less than an inch but that was enough and Neal expertly shoved his tie as far out as he could possibly reach without tipping over and falling into the abyss. He let out a harsh groan as the doors snapped shut again, leaving his beloved tie dangling between their powerful jaws.

Neal pulled away immediately, sitting up when he got to the middle of the platform and letting out a satisfied sigh. No guarantees, he thought, but with any luck, the tie would act as a distress signal and let anyone who might be walking by know that all was not right.

He prepared to return down the hole and back to Diana - and that’s when he heard her.

‘Caffrey!’ she shouted from below, her voice frantic.

Neal crawled back, letting his head hang down through the hole. ‘What?’

‘I need you down here, NOW!’

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Sara circled the block around the Federal Building a second time, searching for somewhere to park - which was nearly impossible at this time of day. She was about to give up and leave the car in a no parking zone when she spotted Peter and Jones stepping out onto the front steps of the building.

‘Peter Burke’ she said loudly into the car’s navigation system.

She watched as the men took the first few steps and suddenly Peter slowed the pace and reached into his coat pocket to answer his vibrating phone.

‘Peter Burke’ he said into his phone.

‘It’s me again, Peter’ Sara said as she watched his face from a short distance.

‘Sara! Jones and I are just on our way to the National Bank. We’re going to try to retrace Neal and Diana’s movements from this morning and see if we can figure out where they are’ he explained.

‘I can see you’ she said as Peter’s eyes came up to survey the street around him. He spotted her immediately and was making his way towards her car when Christie Cooper appeared out of nowhere, looking frazzled. 

‘Give me a minute’ Peter said, into his phone.

Sara watched as the men chatted with Christie who appeared agitated, her arms waving as she spoke. However worried Sara might be for Neal, she could only imagine how Christie might be feeling with Diana so close to giving birth. The next thing she knew, all three of them where making their way over to where Sara sat, waiting not so patiently in the car.

Once they got closer, she could see the deep lines etched on Christie’s face and that unmistakable look of apprehension she knew all too well from all those times Neal was off on one of his daring escapades.

‘Christie wants to come along’ Peter announced as he leaned into the driver’s window to talk to Sara. He gave her a knowing look. ‘I suppose you do too’ he added.

Sara gave him a knowing smile and unlocked the car door for Christie to get in.

‘I’m parked over in the garage’ Peter explained as he pointed to the four story parking structure nearby. ‘Why don’t you follow me. The bank manager’s going to meet us in the lobby.’

Having the capable Peter Burke on your side was always a good thing at a time like this and Sara nodded and smiled. ‘Thanks Peter!’

From the look on Christie’s face, it looked like Sara was going to have to do some damage control on the way over to the bank.

‘Hey’ she said, reaching out and touching the other woman’s hand. ‘It’s okay, we’ll find them.’

WCWCWC

The frantic sound of Diana’s voice left very little room for interpretation and Neal let out a long slow breath as he crawled over to the opening and prepared to return to the small, confined space below. He’d been apprehensive about this moment for the past hour as he'd witnessed the contractions intensifying. It was inevitable. This could only end one way and it looked like he was going to have to channel his inner midwife, whether he liked it or not.

‘Hang on, I’m coming’ he called out as he prepared to squeeze through the trap door above her.

He let his feet drop down, reaching with his toes for the handrail to guide his descent. His shoeless foot grabbed on as he let himself slip through the trap door and he hung on to the edge for a moment to make sure he had a steady foothold. Even from ten feet up in the air, he could hear Diana’s panting, a sound he remembered all too well from his time spent in the delivery room and he took a long steadying breath before letting himself fall to the floor below.

The look of terror and sheer anguish on Diana’s face was unmistakable: eyes narrowed, deep lines across her forehead, jaw clenched tight, sweat on her brow. He was going to have to find a way to keep it together for her sake regardless of his feelings of fear and total incompetence.

He rushed to her side, crouching down as he tried to sound reassuring - much more reassuring than he actually felt.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m here’ he said as she let out a guttural scream. ‘Everything’s going to be fine.’

‘Caffrey!’ she declared with a look of horror on her face. ‘I think I need to push!’

Neal swallowed hard as the words registered in his muddled mind. He needed to take charge of the situation and try to make her as comfortable as he possibly could, in less than ideal circumstances.

‘Here, let’s get you settled first’ he said reassuringly. ‘Let’s take off your jacket, for starters’ he said as he helped her remove the jacket she was wearing over a sleeveless top and a pair of dark slacks.

If she was going to have the baby right there, he needed to try to make things a little more sanitary. After all, she was sitting on a dirty carpet in an elevator where countless riders had stood with their dirty shoes. They didn't have a lot to work with and he began to think of their options, remembering he’d decided to wear an undershirt that morning, despite the summer heat. He unbuttoned his shirt and began to peel it off as Diana smirked, despite the pain.

‘Really Caffrey?’ she moaned as he rolled his eyes. ‘You’ve picked this moment to…. to strip for me? I just want to warn you…’ she continued, her breathing uneven. ‘…even at the best of times, this doesn't do much for me.’

Despite her warped sense of humour, Neal continued removing his shirt, pulling off his undershirt and laying it gently on the ground beside them. Taking Diana’s arm, he helped her shift her weight onto it and he threw his shirt back on, fastening a couple of buttons for modesty’s sake and returning to the business of making her as comfortable as possible in the less than ideal environment.

Her breathing accelerated and he heard her groan in that unambiguous way he remembered from those intense moments just before Sara gave birth. He helped her off with her shoes, her socks and her pants, all inhibition momentarily forgotten. She was sweating profusely and Neal reached over for his jacket, which he’d discarded hours ago, and he grabbed for his pocket square, dousing it with some of the water left in the water bottle he was increasingly grateful to have on hand.

‘Here’ he said, bringing the bottle to her lips before wiping her forehead with the wet handkerchief. ‘Have a little sip.’

She took a grateful sip of water, her face contorted as she swallowed and Neal settled on the ground beside her, wondering where he would be most helpful. With Sara, it had been easy; the doctor and nurses had been there and his job was to support his wife, talking her through and supporting her back as she pushed. This was a whole new ballgame and he was being called on to play a role he had no idea - nor any interest - in playing. He shook off the persistent doubts. Diana needed him and this was no time to freak out on her.

‘Where do you want me?’ he asked, his voice surprisingly calm.

‘Just… just help me… sit up a little’ she moaned as he brought his arm around her back to support her.

Neal reminded himself that childbirth was the most natural thing in the world. You read about this stuff in the paper all the time - women giving birth all by themselves on their bathroom floor or little children watching as their mom delivered their baby brother or sister on the living room couch. Surely, _he_ could do this… as long as there were no complications. After all, women had been giving birth for centuries long before birthing rooms and obstetricians.

He snuck a look at his watch. They’d been trapped in the elevator going on four hours. It wouldn't be long now. Peter was the smartest man he knew and he’d figure it out, sooner or later - he only hoped it was sooner, like _right now,_ his mind screamed.

He thought of Sara - no doubt she would have been looking for him all day and chances were Christie would be on the search for Diana as well.

They just needed to hold on a little longer and help would come.

Help would come.

WCWCWC

‘Mr. Banks, thank you for meeting us’ Peter said as he put out his hand in greeting. ‘This is Agent Jones from our field office and this is Sara Ellis and Christie Cooper.’

The man looked on, unimpressed. He hadn't been thrilled with Neal and Diana’s visit to begin with and he'd assumed he'd heard the last of the FBI and their unsolicited advice on the bank’s security measures. A late afternoon visit was the last thing he wanted.

‘What can I do for you, Agent Burke’? he asked curtly.

‘We understand you met with Agent Berrigan and Mr. Caffrey this morning’ Peter said.

‘Yes, they were here and they left some time around 11:00’ the man said.

‘Sir, we have reason to believe they might still be in the building…’ Peter began as the unpleasant man interrupted.

‘Agent Burke, we’ve had major problems with our power since the earthquake hit this morning and we had to close down the whole building. I can assure you there’s no one left on any of the floors - except for a few of my staff up on the 15th floor.’

‘What’s the problem with the power?’ Peter asked.

‘We’ve been advised that we’re looking at several hours before power can be restored. We have a generator on the first floor so our clients can still use the banking facilities but we decided to send all our staff home hours ago.’

Peter tried to remain civil although this man was really ticking him off with his standoffish attitude and snobby airs.

‘Is it possible that Agent Berrigan and Mr. Caffrey somehow got stuck on one of the floors?’ he asked trying to keep an even voice.

The older man snickered as if Peter’s suggestion was ridiculous. ‘Of course not, all the floors are secure.’

Peter decided it was time to take the bull by the horns and he pulled out his FBI badge, flashing it as Jones smiled smugly.

‘Well, Mr. Banks, if you don’t mind, we’d like to take a look around and see for ourselves.’

Although Peter had no idea what could possibly have happened to Neal and Diana, his instincts were telling him he needed to start here and he watched as ‘Buck’ Banks became more annoyed at having the FBI on his premises, uninvited.

‘Fine’ he said, curtly. ‘I’ll see if I can find someone to escort you around the building’ he said reluctantly.

Sara and Christie watched as Peter bullied his way in, grateful to have the agent on _their_ side. Christie was looking more worried than ever and Sara slipped her arm around her shoulder to reassure her.

‘It’s going to be okay, Christie. We’ll find them.’

WCWCWC

Labor was well underway and Neal had ventured a quick peek to see how things were progressing. He wasn't quite sure what active labor was _supposed_ to look like but it was obvious, even to a novice like him, that the baby was beginning to make its way down the birth canal. He let Diana guide him, his hand moving from her stomach where he massaged her as best he could, to her lower back depending on what she needed - when she wasn't pushing his hand away in frustration, that is. 

She was being a real trouper, focussed on the job at hand although every few minutes, she would shout out, calling for Christie and Neal’s heart broke for her.

She swore as she pushed his hand away. ‘Dammit, this hurts!’ she cried. ‘What the hell was I thinking, having a baby?’ she asked rhetorically.

‘Hang in there, Diana’ Neal said, his voice shaky. ‘Soon, you’ll have your beautiful little baby in your arms… and Christie will be here.’

Diana screamed in pain. ‘Shit, shit, shit. This hurts like hell!’ she continued, her language more colourful by the moment.Neal glanced up longingly at the open trap door above their heads.

‘Come on, Peter’ he whispered under his breath.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Christie Cooper paced up and down the small, confined space the foursome had been invited to wait in while Mr. 'Didn't give a shit' went off to find one of the building's maintenance staff. Sara would have gladly paced alongside her if only there'd been enough room to do so. As the hours passed, she realized there was _no_ logical explanation as to why Neal hadn't been in touch - unless, he _couldn't_ and that was a very scary thought.

There had been no reports of a pregnant woman or an unidentified man being brought in to any of the hospitals so where could they possibly be?

'Why don't we split up?' Sara heard Peter say to Jones. 'We'll do a quick visual of each of the floors and make our way slowly up to the 15th.’

Jones nodded and for the first time Sara noticed even _he_ was looking worried. FBI agents didn't just vanish into thin air while they were out on routine cases. Whatever was keeping Diana and Neal from checking in had to be serious although for the time being, it remained a mystery.

'Did you notify the reception desk that you called for a bus?' Peter asked.

'Yup. The paramedics are on their way and they'll stand by, just in case' Jones replied.

Before Sara could wrap her mind around why they might _need_ an ambulance, the door to the small room opened and Mr. Banks stood with a young man in a maintenance uniform wearing a name tag announcing to the whole wide world that his name was ‘Ted'.

'This is Ted' Banks announced. 'He'll escort you through the building although I can assure you, this is a totally useless exercise. I think you'll find your people haven't been in this building since earlier this morning.'

Peter gave the man a condescending smile as he spoke. 'Why don't you leave that for us to determine' he said as the bank manager took his leave, entrusting the FBI agents to the young man.

It turned out Ted was the low man on the totem pole and when staff had been sent home, he'd drawn the short straw and was the only remaining person on the premises to see to the building until normal activities resumed, presumably the next morning.

The two women followed Peter and Jones out of the waiting area towards the bank of six elevators as Peter pointed in that direction.

'What's up with the elevators?' he asked of the young man.

'They're out of order. Not even the emergency system kicked in when the power went out. Usually, the elevators automatically go down to the first floor during a power outage but the earthquake probably caused some damage because they just stopped working. The company is sending someone over to figure out what the problem is.’

'What about the evacuation?' Jones asked as they continued towards one of the stairwells.

'Everybody was accounted for when they left through the security gate on the first floor. The power was on auxiliary down there and all the staff were checked out. Nobody was left behind.’

Peter frowned. 'What about any guests that might have been in the building?' he asked.

Poor Ted was clearly out of his depth. 'Sorry, I don't know anything about that.’

They'd made it to the second floor and Peter opened the door as Sara stepped in, followed by the young man.

'You take the third and we'll alternate' Peter instructed Jones. 'Check in with me after each floor.’

'Got it' Jones said as he and Christie disappeared up the staircase.

WCWCWC

Neal's eyes glazed over as it suddenly got very quiet - except for Diana's soft whimpering as she momentarily stopped pushing in order to catch her breath. He could hear Dr. Joanne Cooper's voice echoing, deep in the recesses of his mind.

_'Very good, Sara. Look in the mirror, there's the top of the head, see? Oh, she's got her daddy's hair' Dr. Cooper added, by way of incentive to keep Sara's spirits up._

_'I need you to go again, Sara. This is the hardest part, I promise.’_

_Sara nodded and sat up again, groaning and letting out this guttural noise the likes of which Neal had never heard before. She pushed for about thirty seconds then stopped as Dr. Cooper instructed her to take a breath. Neal could see the doctor glancing repeatedly at the monitor that measured the baby's heart rate and blood flow. Why was she checking that thing constantly, he wondered._

_It became apparent there was some sort of problem when Dr. Cooper spoke. 'Sara, I'm going to need you to push some more, your baby needs more oxygen and we need to get her out as fast as we can, okay?’_

_'What?' said Sara alarmed and seemingly disoriented._

_'It's okay. Let's just do what the doctor said. You can do this baby, come on, I'll push with you – let's take a deep breath' said Neal with a calmness that belied his inner turmoil._

_Neal's gentle tone of voice seemed to have a calming effect on her and Sara took a giant breath of air as she mimicked him and began to push with all her might._

'That was a good one, Diana' Neal said, squeezing her hand.

The baby's head was beginning to crown and Neal could see dark hair beginning to peek out.

'You're doing great. I can see the top of the head.’

Diana gave him a baleful look as she rolled her eyes. He was so transparent and yet in that moment she appreciated his attempts at keeping her from totally losing it. She sat up with her back against the wall, her breathing shallow as she took a break, suddenly understanding why it was called labour.

Neal joined her, moving up to sit next to her. He'd been alternating between sitting up with her and checking on her progress, conscious that things could change quickly between pushes. Without the benefit of a doctor or fancy monitors, all he could do was hope that her labor was progressing normally and that the baby would arrive safely - and soon.

'So, you never told me what names you picked if it's a girl' he said, trying to keep her focussed on the positive.

Diana let her head fall back as she took a long, cleansing breath.

'Actually, we only have one name on the list for a girl - Olivia.’

'That's a great name' Neal said. 'Hope's best friend is an Olivia.’

His mind wandered momentarily to his daughter and his baby boy - hopefully, they were both safe, back at home with Sara. He'd have a hell of a story to tell when he finally made it back home and he could only imagine the teasing - Sara would probably suggest he rethink his career path and go to medical school.

He smiled at the wayward thought and glanced over at Diana, noticing her face beginning to contort as she prepared to push again, responding to her body's demands and the baby - who was most definitely the one in charge.

‘All right, one more time' Neal said, feeling his breathing accelerating in time with Diana's. 'I'll count to thirty, okay? Let's go, Diana. One, two, three, four, five…’

Neal watched Diana's face, practically unrecognizable as she panted through the push, Neal gasping along with her as he counted down.

'Twenty, twenty one, twenty two…’

Diana let out a primal scream as she finished pushing and Neal checked again, not noticing much in the way of progress, yet unwilling to share that information with the mom-to-be, for fear he might dishearten her. She'd been pushing for close to twenty minutes now and he didn't know how long was _too_ long; at what point did it become crucial to get the baby out.

'Great job!' he said as he slid over to sit next to her. 'You are _so_ amazing, Diana - do you know that?’

'Shut up, Caffrey!' she responded affectionately.

'You know, I'm really glad this motherhood thing isn't making you all warm and fuzzy' he said with a soft laugh. 'I really wouldn't know how to deal with it.’

Diana managed a smile as she winced in pain. 'Don't want… want to… lose my reputation' she murmured as Neal laughed.

'There's no danger of that. You _do_ know what everybody calls you behind your back, don't you?' Neal asked, referring to her nickname of 'Badass Berrigan’.

'Who do you think _started_ calling me that in the first place' she moaned mischievously as Neal laughed.

He knew all about the importance of shameless self-promotion; after all, he'd been the sole architect of his embellished reputation for years.

The mood changed instantly as Diana let out a couple of expletives and sat up again.

'Here we go again' Neal said, grabbing for her hand.

WCWCWC

The second floor of the National Bank Building consisted of a large open space with cubicles and offices lining the outside of the perimeter. Peter, Sara and young Ted split up and began searching the open space, calling out Neal and Diana's names as they checked in each of the offices and in every one of the cubicles. It would no doubt be a long, arduous process but if Neal and Diana had taken refuge somewhere in the building during the earthquake and had been hurt somehow, they could be just about anywhere and Peter didn't want to leave any stone unturned.

Truth was, Peter had no other leads and his gut was screaming that his agent and his best friend were somewhere nearby. Sara had just rejoined him by the elevator bank when Peter's phone rang.

'All clear on the third floor' Jones announced. 'Moving up to five.’

'Copy that' Sara heard Peter answer as they returned to the stairwell and continued their way up.

Sara could feel her breathing falter; the more time passed, the more worried she became. What could possibly have happened to the two of them in the middle of Manhattan, in broad daylight? If either of them was hurt or injured, the other would be able to go for help - what were the odds that they were both incapacitated… unless they'd been kidnapped or… she didn't even want to think about it.

She followed Peter and Ted up the stairwell, skipping the third floor and going directly up the fourth. It was going to be a long climb all the way up to the 15th floor and she braced herself for more of the same.

WCWCWC

Clinton Jones and Christie Cooper had followed a similar path as they'd checked out the third floor which, unbeknownst to them, was almost identical to the one Peter and Sara had been checking right below them. The offices were deserted and silent, no sign of life as they'd searched high and low for some sign of Diana and Neal.

Jones could sense the anxiety in the young doctor, and with good reason. Here was Diana, on some routine case, disappearing off the grid just as she was about to give birth. Hell, even _he_ was worried about his good friend and colleague as he tried to discount all the conspiracy theories that were beginning to sprout in his overactive imagination.

'You okay?' he asked Christie as they returned to the stairwell on their way up to the fifth floor.

'No' she responded honestly. 'But I _will_ be, once we find them.’

Jones led the way and they arrived on the fifth floor, noticing that the layout was completely different from the previous floor they'd visited. This one consisted of closed spaces, some meeting rooms, closed offices and a large break room, complete with a refrigerator, microwave and countless tables and chairs, enough to accommodate a hundred or so employees.

The two of them worked mostly in silence, calling out for Diana and Neal and poking around any hidden spaces where the two might have taken refuge. It took a little more than ten minutes to cover the whole floor and they were making their way back to the stairwell through the floor's lobby when Christie stopped dead in her tracks.

'What's that?' she said as she pointed to the middle elevator on the south side of the building.

Jones took a few steps to investigate. Something was definitely sticking out of the bottom of the elevator door - fabric of some sort and he bent down to take a better look. He tugged gently at the small piece of material but it was firmly stuck between the doors. Upon closer examination, he recognized it for what it was, a necktie although he could only see a very small part of it.

Clinton grabbed for his phone, waiting for Peter to come on the line.

'Peter, come up to the fifth floor. I'm not sure - but we might have something.’

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

'Neal… I don't think I can do this…' Diana moaned, clearly discouraged and fighting for breath.

She'd been pushing for over thirty minutes and Neal was becoming increasingly concerned that the baby might be in distress if he didn't make it out soon.

He looked down at Diana's face, glistening with sweat, her eyes narrow, deep lines on her forehead and he let himself fall back against the wall, joining her there as she struggled to push herself back into a semi-sitting position. One thing he knew for sure was that the body was an amazing instrument and it knew instinctively what it needed to do. He had to trust that Diana's body would tell her when it was time to rest and when it was time to push.

'Do you want to take a minute to rest?' he asked breathlessly.

Diana nodded and let out a loud sob that tugged at Neal's heartstrings, bringing him back to those amazing, albeit scary, moments in the delivery room as he'd witnessed the arrival of his two beautiful children.

'Diana…' he said as she turned to look at his face. 'You have to believe me, everything's going to be all right. Your beautiful little baby is coming any minute. You just rest for a while, okay?’

Neal put an arm around Diana's shoulder and was surprised when she let her head drop on his shoulder, weeping softly. Finally, her breathing seemed to slow down and Neal unwittingly let out a long, slow sigh as he felt her momentarily relax against him.

Diana let out a couple of uneven breaths before speaking. 'You know, Christie and I had it all figured out. We had a birthing room at Bellevue and… we were going to have a soak in the large tub, she was going to rub my back and it was all going to be so… calm and so... organic.’

Neal let out a shaky breath as he laughed. ' _Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans_ ' he uttered.

'Who said that? Bob Dylan?' she asked with a soft giggle.

'Actually, I think it was John Lennon…' Neal corrected as he straightened out, feeling a nagging kink in his back. 'But it's true… we think we have stuff all figured out and then life just decides what's best for us - even if we don't necessarily agree.’

Diana looked up at Neal's face, noticing the faraway look in his eyes. 'I guess you'd know all about that, huh, Caffrey?' she said.

He let out a sardonic laugh. Life had held many surprises for Neal Caffrey, some good, some not so good including a lengthy detour in the slammer and a long, tortuous road to an amazing life he would never have dared imagine.

'Yup. For better…and for worse' he admitted as he let his head drop back against the wall. 'You know, I always thought I had everything figured out, thought I could manipulate things to go my way… get people to do what I _wanted_ them to do… thought I could always stay a step ahead of everybody else. And then I met Peter Burke…' he said with a twisted laugh.

'Yeah… he's definitely something else' Diana agreed, her voice faltering as she continued to breathe loudly.

Neal laughed softly. 'Yeah, well, Peter didn't always follow the little script that was running around in my head - and that drove me nuts.’

'And then, there was Sara - didn't see that one coming, either. She didn't let me get away with anything, she called me on all my crap… and before long, I was along for the ride and I didn't know what hit me.’

Diana groaned and moved in order to get more comfortable and Neal prepared for another marathon wave of pain but Diana just settled and kept breathing slowly, no doubt trying to rebuild her strength for the next big push.

'So, what is it that turned things around for you in the end?' she asked as she thought of the changes she'd witnessed in the man over the last several years.

'Sara… but mostly Hope. There's just something about finding out you're going to be a parent that puts everything else in perspective. Once I laid eyes on Hope for the first time, her beautiful little face, her sweet innocence… well, I couldn't imagine not being there for her every minute of every day and the thought that I might mess it up somehow… well, it just made everything _so_ clear.’

He snapped out of it and glanced back at Diana who, despite the pain and discomfort, was studying his face.

'And now, _you're_ about to embark on this amazing adventure. You'll see… nothing will ever be the same again for you and Christie after this' Neal added with an encouraging smile.

The soft smile on her face dissipated and the tension returned with a vengeance as she let out a scream.

'AWWWW! Now, now I need to push again!' she shouted. 'Help me get up on my knees!’

Neal took a deep breath and did as he was told.

WCWCWC

Peter Burke tucked away his phone and took off with lightning speed as Sara and the young maintenance guy watched in awe; he sure could move for a guy who spent most of his working hours sitting at a desk.

'WHAT?!' Sara called out after him as she followed him to the stairwell and up towards the fifth floor.

'Jones might have found something' Peter shouted back without bothering to slow down.

The trio arrived up on the fifth floor in seconds flat to find Jones and Christie scrutinizing the elevator door, Clinton on all fours tugging insistently on the piece of fabric they'd discovered there.

'What have you got, Jones?' Peter asked as they got closer.

Sara peeked out from over Peter's shoulder, and let out a gasp as everyone turned to look at her face. It was as white as a ghost and her hand went to her mouth as she looked on in horror.

'Th-that's Neal's tie' she stuttered as all eyes moved back to the tiny piece of material protruding from the jaws of the elevator door.

'What? Are you sure?' Peter asked as Sara gave him a dirty look.

'Of course I'm sure. I gave it to him for his birthday last year. Why… why is Neal's tie hanging out of the elevator?' Sara said, her voice flat.

The horrific notion that Neal might still be wearing the necktie flashed in her mind as she instantly pushed the thought away. There had to be an explanation but one thing was for sure, Neal was - or had been - nearby and was leaving some kind of clue as to where he and Diana were.

Peter's reaction was instantaneous. His fists came up against the elevator door and he began to pound furiously.

'NEAL! DIANA! Are you in there?' he screamed as everyone waited with bated breath.

WCWCWC

Diana panted through the huge push, letting out a loud grunt as Neal counted down the seconds, his hand firmly on her back. He felt her arms faltering and he helped her down as she fell to the ground, unable to hold on any more.

Neal settled her onto her back and returned to check on the progress, noting that he could see the top of the baby's ears, something he hadn't been able to see moments before.

'That was a good one, Diana!' he exclaimed. 'Here, give me your hand.’

Diana continued panting, letting Neal guide her hand to touch between her legs as she felt the top of the baby's head.

'Oh my God! Is that the baby?' she moaned as Neal smiled back at her and nodded.

Neal tried to focus on Diana and what she needed from him although his mind couldn't help but wander to the coming minutes. He wasn't sure how many pushes would be needed to get the head out. And what about the shoulders? He remembered that the shoulders, the widest part of the baby's body, were a little tricky and how Dr. Cooper had had to place her hand inside to guide the shoulders through the birth canal so Sara wouldn't rip wide open. Would he be able to do that if he needed to?

And what would happen once the baby was out? There was the placenta still to come and the umbilical cord… he remembered how his hands had shaken as the nurse had guided him to cut the cord while Hope lay on Sara's stomach. He was feeling ill equipped to deal with all this… and then, there were all the concerns about the less than sanitary conditions on an elevator floor. There was already blood and mucus on his t-shirt and he didn't have anything to wrap the baby in once he finally came out.

He was interrupted by a curious look on Diana's face as she stared up at him.

'Did you hear that?' she whispered.

'Hear what?' Neal replied, a puzzled look on his face.

'That!' she said again as a muffled voice was heard once again, calling out their names.

Neal's face lit up and he was instantly on his feet, looking upwards towards where the sound was coming from.

'PETER!' he yelled at the top of his lungs as he looked up to the trap door which had been left open.

'WE'RE DOWN HERE!' he screamed.

Half a floor away, Peter stood with his ear against the door, his face lighting up as everyone else stood in silence, waiting.

'I think I hear Neal's voice' Peter said as everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

Jones was instantly by his side, slipping his shaking fingers between the elevator doors as Peter did the same on the other side. The door was stubborn; it wasn't meant to be pried open without the help of hydraulics but suddenly, Ted was there, helping the two men pull apart the doors with all his might, feeling it start to give.

Sara and Christie stood, mesmerized, holding on to each other as the three men began grunting loudly as they worked to pry the doors open. Their collective efforts paid off as the door began to give, a few inches at first, then a good foot as they stopped to glance inside into near total darkness.

'Neal!' Peter called out as he leaned into the dark, open space.

'Peter! We're down here.' Neal called out as he looked up towards the gaping hole in the ceiling of the elevator car.

'Caffrey! Don't you dare leave me alone' Diana warned.

He looked from Diana back up to the ceiling; they'd come this far, this was no time to abandon her.

‘Don’t worry. I'm not going anywhere' he said reassuringly before turning his face up again towards the open trap door.

'Peter, Diana's having the baby and I don't want to leave her. We're in the elevator between the fourth and fifth floor and there's a trap door that's open above our heads.’

Christie was instantly by Peter's side, staring down the abyss. Except for a faint light coming from below inside the elevator car, they were unable to make out what was on the other side of the door as their eyes got used to the faint light. There was open space at their feet and the last thing Peter wanted was for the young woman to go falling down the big black hole beneath them.

'Diana! I'm here!' Christie called out as Diana gave Neal a broad smile.

She took a deep breath. 'I'm okay, honey. I'm fine' she lied. 'Just… just get me out of here, okay?'

Peter put his hand out to hold Christie back; if he hadn't stopped her, she might have just thrown herself carelessly down the elevator shaft to get to Diana.

'Jones, get the paramedics up here right now. And you…' he added as he turned to Ted, the maintenance guy '…get me a flashlight' Peter instructed before he turned to call down to Neal.

'Neal! The paramedics will be here in just a sec. Hang on.’

'Neal!' Diana moaned, competing for his attention as she became agitated once more.

'See' he said as he crouched down beside her and took her hand.

'Everything's going to be fine. Help is on the way.'

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

The flashlight Peter had requested had finally materialized and with it firmly in his hand, he was better equipped to examine the gaping space on the other side of the doors they had managed to pry open. With the additional light, he could see that, almost directly across from where he stood, was the top of the elevator car and he could make out the open trap door Neal had mentioned.

There was light coming up from beneath although, from his vantage point, he couldn't see what was going on in the elevator below. There was a treacherous gap of about two to three feet between the floor underneath his feet and the top of the elevator car making access impossible - unless they could find something to bridge the void over the dark well beneath. Otherwise, there was no way to cross over to the other side of the crevasse and he'd sent Jones and Ted on a search for anything that might be used to act as a bridge so that, perhaps, the paramedics could go in and help out - at least until they could get Neal and Diana safely out of there.

The sound of the paramedics rushing up the stairs and the clattering of a gurney resonated in the lobby of the fifth floor of the National Bank Building and Peter turned just in time to see a young woman and an older man come into view. The duo rushed to Peter's side as Christie and Sara stared, in stunned silence, at the surreal scene before their eyes.

Suddenly in the uneasy silence, Neal's voice was heard, sounding rather agitated. 'Peter, tell the paramedics that the baby's head is out!’

Armed with this new information, Peter turned to speak to the two new arrivals. 'There's a woman stuck in the elevator who's giving birth. Her name is Diana… and there's a man with her.’

'What's _his_ name?' the young woman asked.

'Neal, his name is Neal' Peter said as Christie and Sara looked on, obviously distressed.

'Peter, I want to go down there and be with her' Christie pleaded, taking a step forward.

'No way' Peter said, unequivocally. 'We'll have them out in no time, Christie. You need to sit tight' he said as he gave Sara a knowing look.

'But Peter…' she began as he interrupted.

'Christie, please… let the paramedics do their job' he said as Sara took her by the arm and led her a few feet away.

'Come on Christie. Let's give them some space to work' Sara said as she pulled the young woman away from the edge of the abyss.

'Diana! I love you!' Christie called out before taking a reluctant step back.

'Peter!' Neal's voice was heard again, sounding more frantic by the second.

The male paramedic crouched down by the edge of the gaping hole and got down on his stomach, slithering a few inches forward so he could lean in without falling down the dark, seemingly endless pit.

'Diana? Neal? Can you hear me down there?' he called out.

The voice wasn't Peter's but it was a welcome relief all the same and Neal looked up to respond. 'Yes, we can hear you.’

'My name is Doug and I'm here with my partner, Jessie. We're paramedics and we're going to talk you through this, okay?’

Neal looked down at Diana's face, flushed and tense as she continued to push, suddenly oblivious to what was going on around them.

'Tell me what's going on right now, Neal' the disembodied voice said as Neal looked again to check on the baby.

He took a shaky breath before answering. 'The baby's head is out and it looks like… like he's stuck at the shoulders and Diana is pushing really hard.’

The paramedic leaned in, projecting his voice down towards the trap door.

'How long has she been pushing?' the man asked.

Neal glanced briefly at his watch before answering. 'Almost an hour.’

'Listen to me, Neal' he continued, calmly. 'We're going to get to you as soon as we can but in the meantime, I need you to take care of things down there' he said.

Neal listened intently, concentrating on the soothing voice, his heart pounding in his chest.

'An hour is an awfully long time to be pushing. We don't want the baby to be in distress. Diana needs your help to dislodge the baby's shoulders.

Do you think you can handle that?' the paramedic asked. 'I'll talk you through it.’

Christie let out an audible gasp. She'd seen a couple of cases of shoulder dystopia in the ER and this was definitely a complication they could have done without.

Neal's eyes closed as he took a deep breath. He was afraid it might come to this. 'Okay! I'm ready' he called back, his voice strong.

'Tell Diana to stop pushing. Right now! No more pushing' he warned.

'Can you see the baby's shoulders?’

'No. Just his neck' Neal called back.

Everyone held their collective breaths as they listened to the exchange between the two men. Sara stood with her arm snugly around Christie as Peter looked on, checking over his shoulder every few seconds to see if Jones and Ted were coming back with something that could be used to give them access to the top of the elevator car. Meanwhile, the paramedic lay on the floor, on his stomach, leaning out as far as he possibly could without falling down the elevator shaft below.

'Okay Neal. Do you have any water down there?' the man asked.

Neal took a look over at the water bottle which had been discarded earlier. 'Yeah, we've got some water.’

'Rinse your hands as best you can' he instructed as Neal momentarily left Diana's side and reached for the bottle, doing exactly as instructed.

'Okay. Done' he called back when he had finished rinsing his hands.

'Now, listen to me. This is going to sound worse that it is, okay? Do you have any kids, Neal?' he asked.

'Yeah, two great kids.' Neal said as Sara smiled, tears in her eyes.

'Well, then, you're an expert. You'll see, this is going to be a piece of cake' the paramedic continued, his voice reassuring.

'Is Diana lying on her back?' he continued.

'Yeah, she's on her back' Neal answered, glancing at Diana's face and running his hand through her hair as he attempted to give her an encouraging smile.

'Make sure she stops pushing. She's not pushing, is she?' he asked.

'No, she's not pushing' Neal confirmed.

'Good, now bend her knees and pull her legs apart as far as possible. Forcibly push them apart if you have to.’

Neal looked down at Diana, struggling with her breathing. 'Are you okay?' he asked softly as she shook her head no.

'You're almost there, Diana…we can't give up now.’

'Neal, are you still with me?' the voice asked from above.

'Yes, yes, I'm here' Neal said.

'Now, I need you to try to feel for Diana's pubic bone. It's at the very bottom of her stomach. Ask Diana to help you if she can.’

Neal stared down at Diana and she took his shaking hand, bringing it to the designated spot at the bottom of her distended belly.

'Got it?' the voice asked.

'Yeah, got it' Neal answered.

'All right, stick with me, Neal. You can do this. Now, I want you to leave your hand there and with the other hand, you need to reach right were the baby's neck is and just slide in a couple of fingers there. It'll hurt Diana and you may see some bleeding but we have to get the baby out now. Every second counts.’

Neal looked hesitantly at Diana, laying there totally at his mercy and he felt a shiver, hesitating at the thought of causing her any more pain.

'Dammit, just do it Caffrey' Diana muttered between laboured breaths.

Neal took a deep breath as he attempted to slip two of his fingers right alongside the baby's neck; there was the tiniest of give there, the head having stretched Diana to the limit and he pushed ahead, avoiding the look of pain on Diana's face as she let out a loud scream. He could see blood pooling and he knew she must be in agony but he soldiered on as the voice came from above.

'Can you get your fingers in?' Doug asked.

'Y-yes' Neal said, his breathing faltering as Diana continued to grunt in pain.

'Can you feel the shoulder?’

'I think so' Neal said quietly.

'I can't hear you, Neal.’

'Yes, I can feel the shoulder.’

'Now, push just above the pelvic bone and try to create some space with your fingers so the shoulder can pop out' he instructed as Neal gave a gentle push on the bottom of Diana's stomach.

'You need to give it a good strong push, Neal. Don't be afraid; you need to dislodge that shoulder. That baby needs to come out now!’

Neal took a large gulp of air and ignoring Diana's moans of pain, he gave one decisive push just above her pelvic bone causing his fingers to slip out along with the baby's right shoulder.

'One of the shoulders is out' he yelled, louder than he'd meant to.

'Okay, Diana, you can give one last big push' Doug instructed from above as Diana immediately grunted and pushed with all her might.

Within seconds, the baby slipped out as Neal broke its fall with his hands.

'It worked!' he screamed as Diana let out a low, guttural groan.

'The baby's out!' Neal cried out victoriously as he stared down at the newborn baby who lay on his undershirt, covered in mucus and blood, yet undeniably beautiful.

He hesitantly scooped up the baby girl from where she lay and he gently placed her onto Diana's stomach as the baby began to cry loudly.

'Here she is, Mom' Neal said, fighting tears.

Christie had made her way to the very edge, with Peter holding her securely so she wouldn't take a dangerous - and fatal - step into the gaping hole.

Suddenly Diana's voice wafted up, a little weak but enough so that everyone assembled could hear.

'We have a baby girl, Christie!' she called up as everyone cheered, the sound of the newborn's cries echoing up above.

'She looks just like you' Diana continued, crying, as Neal lovingly wiped the baby's face with his wet handkerchief.

'It's true!' he added with relief. 'She's got your perky little nose, Christie.’

Christie began to cry with relief as Peter kept a steady arm around her shoulder. Right on cue, a commotion was heard as Ted and Jones reappeared carrying two large planks of wood about six inches wide and three fee long.

Putting themselves in physical peril wasn't part of a paramedic's job description but the young woman who'd been standing by quietly as her partner coached Neal through the birth came forward.

'Doug, let me go in. I'm lighter than you are' she said, without hesitation as Ted and Jones lay the planks across to reach the other side, making certain they were secure.

The older man looked into his partner's eyes and smiled. 'I guess I should lay off those cheeseburgers, huh?' he said as he tapped his belly and moved to make room for her.

The young woman got down on all fours and within seconds she'd made it across to the other side, crawling along the makeshift bridge and peeking down into the open trap door at the new mom and the unintentional midwife.

'Hello down there' she called out as Neal let out a huge sigh of relief.

'I'm coming down' she announced as she let her legs dangle, Neal standing to help her down safely from the trap door.

'You're a sight for sore eyes' Neal said as he helped her all the way down.

As soon as she touched the ground, the young woman began tending to Diana and her baby daughter, checking their vital signs and expertly clamping the umbilical cord. Neal was more than happy to let her take the lead; he let himself fall to the floor on the far side of the elevator and watched as order was slowly restored.

New life filled the elevator and Neal felt his whole body relax as he heard the wonderful sounds of the newborn crying and Diana's calming voice as she spoke to her daughter.

Now, all that was left was to find a way to get them all out of this god forsaken place.

WCWCWC

Peter pulled Ted aside, leaning in to speak to him. 'Did you reach the elevator company?' he asked as the young man nodded.

'They should be here any minute' Ted said.

'You go down and wait for them and bring them up the minute they get here. Do you hear me? We still need to get them out of there' Peter said in his best Agent Burke voice.

'Yes sir' said the young man earnestly as he disappeared down the staircase.

Now that Diana was out of immediate danger, Peter needed to make sure they all got out safely - and it sure as hell wasn't going to be through that trap door.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

Olivia Berrigan was all of eight minutes old when Ted the maintenance man came rushing up the stairs with a newcomer by his side. The older looking man was slight in stature, barely five foot six, yet he commanded respect as he walked in with his huge tool box and a killer attitude.

'What's the situation here?' he asked, addressing Peter Burke.

Within two minutes he'd been briefed and he was up on top of the elevator car, hard at work diagnosing the problem.

'This is going to take a few hours to fix' he declared after a cursory evaluation.

'But…' Peter began, looking uncharacteristically distressed.

'Hold your horses, there, wingtips' the elevator guy said, interrupting him. 'I can get them out in a few minutes, I just need a few hours to get the system fixed, is all.’

Peter let out a sigh of relief as did Neal, who could overhear the conversation taking place above his head.

Although, he'd managed to keep himself focussed and relatively calm throughout the whole ordeal, ever since he'd delivered Diana's baby, he'd noticed his hands had begun to shake and he could feel sweat oozing out of every pore of his body. He couldn't get out of there fast enough and all he could think about was getting home to Sara and the kids.

The repairman's voice echoed through the elevator shaft. 'I can manually lower the car to the fourth floor but I'll need help to pry the doors open down there.’

'Not a problem' Peter said as he glanced over at Jones and Ted. They were experts at prying elevator doors open. 'How long do you need?’

'Just a few minutes. I'll let you know when I'm ready' he answered as Neal glanced up to try to see what the man was doing.

Diana seemed oblivious to what was going on around her, her attention now totally focussed on her newborn daughter as Jessie, the paramedic, stood by making sure mother and daughter were as comfortable as possible - considering they were stuck in an elevator in a high rise building in the middle of Manhattan.

'Sara, call me on my phone when he gives you the signal' Neal heard Peter say.

Sara? Neal had no idea she was even up there.

'Repo?' Neal called out with affection, noticing his voice was shaky.

'I'm here, Neal' she answered as she took a tentative step towards the elevator shaft.

He let out a quivering breath at the sound of her voice. Up until that very moment, he hadn't realized just how anxious he was to see her again.

'I've never been happier to hear your voice' he said breathlessly as she smiled.

Sara stepped back and watched as everyone headed for the stairwell on their way to the floor below - Peter, Ted, Christie followed by Doug and Jones who were bringing up the rear as they carried the gurney down the steps. Sara remained alone by the fifth floor elevator bank, waiting for the signal from 'elevator man' that it was time to pry the doors open below.

She could hear the little man grunting as he worked although she couldn't see exactly what he was doing; slowly but surely, the elevator car began to disappear from her sight as it was lowered, inch by inch towards the lower floor.

True to his word, she heard him call out. ‘All right, you can tell them to open the doors now.’

WCWCWC

Neal watched with relief as the elevator door opened and he came face to face with all those smiling faces on the other side. He stepped out, making room to get Diana out but even before Doug had the chance to come in and help his partner, Christie was by Diana's side meeting her newborn daughter for the first time as the two women began to sob with joy.

Neal took a couple of steadying breaths and Peter was instantly there with a hand on his shoulder.

'You okay, buddy?' he asked.

'I am now…' Neal managed to say, his eyes glued to the stairwell as he waited for Sara to make an appearance.

Suddenly, she was there, breathing heavily. She'd probably run all the way down in those god awful heels of hers - and in the blink of an eye, she was throwing her arms around his neck as Neal wrapped his arms tightly around her.

'It is _so_ good to see you, babe' he whispered into her ear as she smiled, eyes filled with tears.

They pulled apart, their attention drawn to the new parents who were being helped out of the elevator - Diana, on a gurney as she held Olivia and Christie by their side.

Neal took one last look at the empty elevator and let out a long, slow breath.

For the foreseeable future, he thought stairs might be the way to go.

WCWCWC

'Daddy!' Hope shrieked when Neal and Sara walked through the front door.

'Sweet pea! I missed you!' he countered as he scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tight.

He ran his hand over the small bandage on her forehead and gave her a sympathetic pout. 'Mommy told me you got hurt.’

'It doesn't hurt, Daddy' Hope said, suddenly sounding so grown up to Neal's ears.

'Where were you? I wanted to show you my test' she said as she wriggled to get out of his arms.

Mozzie appeared, holding Liam in his arms and instantly the baby stretched his arms out towards his daddy, excited to see him.

'Hey buddy!' Neal called out as he took the gurgling baby from Mozzie's arms and gave him a nuzzle.

It felt like he hadn't been home in days and yet, he'd left mere hours ago. He couldn't remember ever being this happy to finally be home.

Suddenly, Hope was at his feet, madly waving her test paper in her hands and he leaned down and picked her up once more, carrying both the kids into the kitchen as Sara beamed and Mozzie frowned.

'Let's see' Neal said, his voice excited as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

'Did you get a C?' he asked as Hope smiled broadly and shook her head.

'A C+?' he teased.

'NO Daddy' she shouted. ‘Look!'

'Oh my God! Not a B!' he exclaimed as he tickled her.

'Daddy! Stop!' she cried out, giggling madly.

Home. There was no place like it.

WCWCWC

Dinner consisted of the sandwiches Mozzie had managed to pull together for the kids and by early evening, Neal was compelled to fulfil the promise he'd made to his daughter.

But first, the family headed out for a short visit to the hospital where Diana had been transferred to have herself and the baby checked out. The hospital room was already full of visitors when the Caffreys arrived with Jones, Peter and Elizabeth all waiting patiently for their turn to hold the baby. Diana was looking radiant despite her recent ordeal and Christie looked like she was over the moon as she cradled their newborn daughter in her arms.

'There's the man of the hour' Diana declared as Neal walked in carrying Liam with Hope and Sara following close behind.

'Diana, you look amazing' he said as he made his way over to give the new mom a kiss.

'She's gorgeous!' Sara declared as she leaned in to peek at baby Olivia with Hope jockeying for position so she could get a better view.

'Neal, we’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you did' Christie said with tears in her eyes. 'The doctor says you did an amazing job. She's perfectly fine.’

'Yeah, Caffrey. Thanks' Diana said. 'I don't know what I would have done without you.’

Neal shrugged in response, embarrassed by all the attention.

'Well, this little one will always have a great story to tell about how she came into the world' he said as everyone laughed.

After a short visit, the group disbanded, leaving the new family to bask in the afterglow and the Caffreys headed back to White Plains for a visit to their local frozen yogurt place. True to her word, Hope piled on the toppings and took full advantage of Neal's good mood and Neal, who usually kept a tight rein on his kids' eating habits, seemed more than happy to see the smile on his little girl's face as she dug into her bizarre concoction.

By 9:00, everybody was exhausted and they made their way back home, Sara relieved to have her family back together safe and sound and Neal, thrilled to finally be free of the jaws of elevator 2B of the National Bank Building.

WCWCWC

Neal patted his lap as he sat up in bed; he still had a few nights left in order to finish paying off his debt to his wife.

'Ready for your foot massage?' he asked Sara as she smiled coyly.

'Not tonight' she said mysteriously as she pulled something out of her purse.

'My tie!' he called out, excited. 'I thought I'd never see that thing again.’

Sara settled in bed next to her husband, suddenly serious. 'Oh, Neal. When I saw that thing sticking out of the elevator door… I was terrified something horrible had happened to you.’

'It was the only way I could think of to signal we were in there. Those cement walls are totally sound proof' he said as he toyed mindlessly with the tie. 'You know it really _is_ my favourite one.’

Sara smiled as she got up on her knees and took it from his hands, giving him a naughty smile.

Neal frowned as he tried to figure out what she was up to. He didn't have to wait long. Sara placed the tie over his eyes and proceeded to tie it around the back of his head.

'Oh, I see, we're going kinky tonight…' Neal murmured, his voice husky.

'No, I just don't want you to see…' she whispered. 'Now, wait here.’

He felt the bed move as Sara stood and he could hear her moving around the room, finally feeling the bed dip as she reappeared at his side.

‘All right, on your stomach, Caffrey!' she ordered as he willingly obeyed.

He could feel her behind him, straddling the top his legs and despite the aches and pains he'd been feeling, he could feel himself responding to the wonderful sensation of his wife sitting on his buttocks.

'Mmmmm' he moaned softly.

Her hands were suddenly on his back, soft and warm and the wonderful scent of massage oil began to permeate the air.

'Tonight, you're the one who's getting a massage. You deserve it after everything you've been through' she purred as she began kneading his neck and shoulder blades to Neal's utter delight.

'Oh, honey, that feels amazing' he whispered as Sara leaned in to massage his shoulders.

'When I think about what you did today… you were incredible' she murmured. 'If we have another baby, I want _you_ to deliver it' she added with a wry smile.

'Oh no!' Neal said as he lay there, eyes covered and enjoying her soft hands on his tired, aching body. 'I am happy to hold your hand and cheer you on but I will _not_ be delivering any more babies… if I can help it.’

'Well, you saved the day. I don't think Diana will ever look at you the same way again.’

Neal sniggered. 'Well, I'm going to try to forget about the whole thing so I can look _her_ in the eye again.’

'She's a beautiful baby… you did good, Caffrey.’

'I only did what I _had_ to do…' he said softly as he felt himself begin to nod off.

Sara leaned in to kiss his neck, sending shivers down Neal's spine as he struggled to stay awake.

'Mmmmm' Neal moaned as desire fought exhaustion.

'There's something about men and babies... it's sexy' she cooed in his ear.

Neal could hear his wife's voice growing more distant as his body relaxed.

'As a matter of fact' she added as she began to feel that familiar flutter in the pit of her stomach. 'This is _really_ doing if for me…’

Her suggestive comment went unanswered and she ran a hand down her husband's back all the way down to his gorgeous butt, caressing his cheeks as she went.

'Honey? Neal?' she said as she heard the familiar low drone of Neal snoring softly.

She let out a soft laugh as she fell on the bed beside him. 'My hero!’

La fin


End file.
